Bubblegum
by ill0gical
Summary: With her Barbie doll best friend dating the school's heartthrob, and her pixie of a best friend progressing her crush on Konoha High's class clown, Sakura feels that she's content. That is, until Mr and Mrs. Perfect's dramatic break-up. Uhm, help?
1. Right Now Na, Na, Na

**Notes: **I don't know how often I'll be able to update this, but enjoy! This is also a side-project, so I apologise if chapters are too short. They will probably progress as I get more into this story. ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT, Sakura's POV is written in first person, but Sasuke's will be in third person. It's hard to get inside his head without making him sound goofy. :3

**Disclaimer****: **…Would I be writing SasuSaku fics if I owned Naruto? No! I would be drawing like crazy every week. Thanks, Kishi!

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

**- Right Now, Na, Na.**** -**

_When a guy is into you, you tend to notice it pretty quickly, you just get that feeling that you're not sure. There are signs, though. _

_First, he'll start talking to you more, striking up a conversation online, or just giving you a polite greeting every time he sees you. _

_Next, there's the contact thing. Maybe knocking into your shoulder as a joke, or even slinging an arm around your shoulder. _

_The third stage is when they begin to bug you; they're constantly trying to speak to you, asking you questions and just generally beginning to annoy you._

_And when you begin to realize that if they aren't bugging you, you miss them, then you can be assured that you like them back. _

_But why, of all people, was I missing _him_?_

* * *

This all started thanks to a project set in Biology by Orochimaru-Sensei. We were put into groups according with our scores in the most recent exam we'd taken. I, the usually calm and collected study-nerd was placed in a group with the school's clown, Uzumaki Naruto, and Konoha's heartthrob, Uchiha Sasuke.

There was nothing unusual about that, most of the girls were put into groups with two boys. But my best friend, Ino, seemed to be having a lot of trouble accepting that fact.

Yamanaka Ino is a Barbie doll. She's everyone's idea of perfection: blonde hair; blue eyes; tall, with a perfect body; captain of the cheer squad, and an all rounder in academics; and, of course, she had the perfect man candy to hand.

Uchiha Sasuke is like one of those ripped, gorgeous guys that had just stepped out of an Abercrombie photograph. Perfectly soft-looking spiky hair; smouldering, dark eyes; perfect teeth; the body of a freakin' Greek god; the mind of a Chinese wonder-child and the ability to charm the pants off of anyone. And, unfortunately, that included my best friend.

"Listen, Forehead," Ino had said, as we dropped into the red, plastic seats surrounding the grey table in the corner of the cafeteria that we would usually bag during lunch. "Do you know why teachers invented group projects?" She questioned. I looked at her from behind the paperback I was currently absorbed in, an eyebrow raised, Ino cracked her can of Appletiser open, "To match-make!" She announced.

I almost snorted in a very unladylike fashion, "Oh, Ino, you're just getting yourself worked up. Nothing will happen." I assured her. But, now that I thought about it, she had a very valid point there. The teachers at our school seemed to have a 'thing' for gossiping, especially about the students that were currently attending Konoha High.

"Why are you so obsessed with the whole thing, anyway?" I asked her, "It's not like you to feel… threatened." I had to word that cautiously, otherwise she might have spazzed. But Ino seemed too wrapped up in her own thoughts to be bothered with my words.

She sighed, "It's just, like, lately, we haven't been able to sit in the same room as each other for more than ten minutes without some sort of petty little argument breaking out." She explained, "It's stupid. Like, sometimes, if I ask him to hang out with me after school, he'll get all defensive and say things like, 'you're always taking up all of my free time,' or, 'you're too controlling'." She droned. I watched her as she ranted, her thin, blonde eyebrows coming closer and closer together as she thought more on the subject. "I'm just worried, y'know? He's got a reputation…"

Ah, _the Reputation_. Uchiha Sasuke, as I said before, can charm the pants off of anybody. And he used to use that skill to his advantage very often. But, six months ago, the bad habit completely stopped, because he started to go out with this beautiful, popular girl named Yamanaka Ino. Things had seemed pretty smooth between them – they were two halves of perfection. This was the first negative thing I'd heard my blonde best friend say regarding their relationship.

I looked down at my book for a moment before the idea hit me. "Ino, this book is about Comodia Del Arte, know what that is?"

"Sure, the street actors in Italy… right?"

"That's right. Well, it's what I'm basing my Drama project on. Anyway, in Comodia Del Arte, there's always this God-sent couple, Valentino and Isabella. They're both beautiful people. Kinda like you and Sasuke."

"Yeah, what's this got to do with us?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.

I held up a finger to silence her, "But, because they're both so attractive – and they know it – they feel that they have to have the most attractive person hanging off of their arm. Get it?"

"Are you suggesting that Sasuke and I are only going out with each other for looks?" She asked, her cheeks tinting red. I remained calm.

"Ino, let me finish." She relaxed in her seat, "So, yeah, what I'm saying is that you and Sasuke might have had, you know, the butterflies for each other at the start of the relationship, but if you're suspecting that he's getting with other girls, and that he isn't into you so much anymore, maybe that's the case. Do you get it?"

"Oh my god, Forehead…" Ino muttered worriedly from behind her hand, "What if you're right? That does feel like how things are at the moment." Her huge, baby blue eyes focussed on the can of Appletiser in her hand. Her acrylic nails tapped against the tin.

"Don't take everything I say to heart," I told her, gently, "I'm just trying to relate a common mistake in relationships to your problem. Maybe he just needs a little space." I shrugged. "Where is he now?"

"Detention with Naruto." She said, gloomily. I bit my lip. I hadn't meant to upset her, I just didn't want for her to get hurt over some silly little prick who _apparently _didn't have time for her.

"What's on your mind, now?" I asked her, in need of conversation. She blinked up at me.

"I was just thinking. But Sak, when we aren't fighting with each other, and when we hold hands, or when we kiss, I get those butterflies all over again, y'know?" She told me, her mood brightening at the thought. I smiled to myself and returned to my book as she began a long and detailed story of what they had 'done' last Saturday. I tuned it out, because if I were to be completely honest, that was not the sort of thing my innocent ears needed – or wanted – to hear.

* * *

French seemed to be dragging on for eternity! It was the last lesson of the day, and, in the dying autumn sun, it was almost _painful._ My bright, bright green eyes were focussed on the stunning colours outside of the window, following the little figures as they ran around the soccer field in their Phys Ed class. I could make out the male figures easily, for each of them had a certain something that defined them (usually involving their hair…), even from far away.

Uchiha Sasuke – the parakeet hair-do and the deathly pale skin.

Uzumaki Naruto – the uncontrollable, brighter-than-the-sun spikes.

Hozuki Suigetsu – the shoulder length, whitewhite_white_ hair.

Inuzuka Kiba – The adorable, messy brunette hair and the bright red tattoos on his tanned cheeks.

Nara Shikamaru – well, he simply never moved. That was one way of keeping an eye on him.

Hyuuga Neji – gorgeous, long, chocolate-dark hair. He just so happened to be the cousin of the cutest person I had ever met, Hyuuga Hinata. Tiny in all ways, with the most beautiful, long, dark-cobalt coloured hair, and big, calming lilac eyes. She was forever blushing over the pre-mentioned class clown, but he was just so _ignorant _to her that sometimes, I just felt like slamming a book over his head.

And then I got yet another wonderful idea in my head. _I can get Naruto and Hinata together!_ Yes! This project was suddenly becoming less of a worry and more of a perfect way for me to get around both Sasuke and Naruto. First, I'd work on figuring out what it was about Sasuke that was worrying Ino so much, and then I'd use the powers bestowed upon me by Cupid to fix up Naruto and Hina-chan! It was _perfect. _

"Sakura-chan, what are you thinking…? You have that… d-devious smirk on your face." The pixie-like being that _was_ Hinata questioned quietly. "And it's scaring me."

I turned to her, brushing a strand of my (ridiculous) bubblegum pink hair out of my kohl-lined eyes, "Ohhhh, little Hina-chan, wouldn't you like to know."

"Y-yes, I would, that's why… why I asked you." She said.

"I was just thinking. Nothing important," I winked. Hinata looked terrified. Am I really that creepy when I'm scheming? That's not cool.

"Class dismissed!" The old lady finally announced. I quickly threw my things into my bag, intent on getting home so that I could _planplanplan._

That might have sounded sad, but I was always the type to want to have my friends happy before myself. And I wasn't really into anybody at our school right now. Neji was hot, but he was Hinata's family, and besides, he was going out with Tenten in the year above. Suigetsu had also been a possible candidate, but he was kind of like Sasuke, a bit of a dodgy player. Hinata and I secretly had an idea that he was into this other girl on the cheer team, Karin. Kiba… Kiba was _seriously _hot. But I couldn't see myself with him, for some reason. Shikamaru was taken, and there was no way I would get with Naruto. Besides, he had Hinata. And Sasuke, after the fact that he was already going out with Ino, was just plain up himself. He may have had a right to be, but he was _seriously _going to have his nose broken one day. And then where would he be? Heh.

* * *

My home wasn't grand. In fact, it was a bungalow. It had two bedrooms, my mother's, and my own, facing towards the enormous lake that the city of Konoha surrounded. The kitchen was the thing you'd step into as you entered the house from the bright red front door. That was where I was now, speaking excitedly to my mother from over the granite worktop where she was busily cutting up carrots and what not.

"So we've been assigned a project in Biology," I told the woman with the dark pink haired woman before me. She was practically a much older version of me on the outside.

"Oh, yeah?" She wasn't paying much attention.

"I got grouped with Ino's boyfriend and the guy that Hinata has a crush on."

My mom laughed, "That should be interesting. So, knowing you, you're going to try and hook this guy and Hinata up."

"That was my plan!" I chuckled, biting into a cucumber stick. My phone vibrated in the front pocket of my light blue skinny jeans. I frowned before pulling it out. It was Ino, of course.

"Hello, Pig."

"_Hey, Forehead. Come to Starbucks! I'm meeting the boys, and Naruto's going to be there. And I'm dragging Hina-chan too!_" I heard a slight squeal in the background, suggesting that my blonde friend had already taken the Hyuuga girl prisoner.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I said, and ended the call. Was that considered rude? I just thought it'd be a cool way to shut off the phone. Like Spiderman.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke leant against the changing room wall with his arms folded. He watched the bantering fools that he called his friends with a furrowed brow and hostile expression. He was going to be late if they kept this up.

The tall, tanned blonde sixteen year old that went by the name of Uzumaki Naruto bounced to his orange converse-covered feet. He shot a blindingly white grin at the older teen. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Kiba, are you _done_ yet?" He asked loudly, causing the room to fall into silence as a reply came from the showers.

"Yes, I'm fuckin' done. Leave me alone."

"What's he doing anyway?" The blonde asked. Sasuke shrugged his black hoodie covered shoulders. He didn't need the hoodie, as the autumn sun was still quite warm, but he wore it anyway, too lazy to slip it back into his bag.

"I don't know, but he's taking his goddamn time." The Uchiha announced impatiently. It was then that the brunette appeared, pushing his half-dry hair out of his eyes and throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "Ah…"

"Alright, okay, let's go!" The Inuzuka teen announced, pushing past Sasuke and sliding around the door. Sasuke followed with a small smirk on his face.

They were going to one of Sasuke's most favourite places in the world. _Starbucks._ Of course, he wouldn't come out and say that it was actually a _favourite_. That word made him cringe. Made him think of his father who most certainly liked that word. But then again, his mother liked that word too. And she liked to associate it with him. So it was okay.

Kiba was unlocking the door of his car, Naruto standing on the passenger side.

"Shotgun." The Uchiha drawled lazily. The blonde whipped his head around.

"No, I'm already here." He announced.

Sasuke shook his head, "Shotgun overrules, now move over, loser."

"Kiba! Tell him it's not fair!"

The brunette looked over at his two bickering friends, Sasuke with a smug smirk resting on his lips and Naruto seemingly so distraught that his blue eyes appeared to be filling up with pre-hysterical tears."

"Shotgun overrules, Blondie. You know how it is." He repeated the Uchiha's words and aimed a thumb towards the back seat of the beautiful, _beautiful_, silver-grey Audi R8 that the three had purchased together for their brunette friend's sixteenth. Sasuke and Naruto weren't legally allowed to drive yet, but they'd take it out for a spin whenever Kiba gave them the chance.

Which was only when he was drunk.

Which he often wasn't. Sad face.

Sasuke slipped into the black, leather passenger seat with Naruto grumbling behind him. He was instantly overwhelmed by the sweet scent of the leather – he knew it had been a good idea to trust dog boy with this car. It was too nice for him to total, and too good for Naruto. Period. His silver iPod Nano was jammed into the stereo and the music began to pump out from the speakers positioned somewhere near the boot.

Sasuke didn't even know why he was _listening _to this. But the band continued to scream the lyrics to some long forgotten pop song.

"_I wanna make up __right now, __na, na.__  
__I wanna make up __right now, __na, na.__  
__Wish we never broke up __right now, __na, na,__  
__We need to link up __right now, __na, na."_

Kiba sang along loudly, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as they pulled out of the lot and zoomed smoothly down the straight, tarmac covered road.

School had finished an hour and a half ago, and so the roads were pretty clear except for the rest of the soccer squad making their way home from practice. It didn't take long to get into town, and when they did, they scored a perfect parking space right outside the window of the coffee house. Sasuke slipped gracefully out of the car seat and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his grey skinnies. He peered through the window, searching for any glitter or blinding colours that might have indicated that Ino had already arrived.

Well. He caught _a_ colour. A girl was sitting in one of the large, squishy sofas by the window with her nose in a book. Ah, little Haruno. So Ino had invited her friends too.

As if sensing his eyes on her, the small, teenage girl turned her pink head towards him, her bright, bright green eyes locking with his own deep obsidian orbs. He held her gaze for a moment before she turned back to her book, throwing him one last tiny glare.

Glare? What had he done to her? He tilted his head curiously, like a confused puppy. Oh, god. Not the puppy thing. That was what Ino had called it and it had stuck. Silly woman.

"What are you looking at, Teme…? Oh! It's Sakura-chan!" His blonde best friend bounced in his orange converses and made his way up the small walkway and into the coffee shop. The door swung shut behind him just as Naruto squawked out a, "HELLO, SAKURA-CHYAAAN!"

Facepalm.

* * *

Oh, God. So this is what Ino had meant by 'the boys'. The blonde parrot, the dog lover and the… the prick. I didn't mind the other two and, of course, I'd been expecting to see Sasuke, but how was I supposed to sit with the three of them for the next ten minutes? I closed the book I had been reading – yes, the Comodia Del Arte one – and greeted Naruto quietly. I thought I'd show him how to be accepted in public society.

"Hello, Naruto. Are you with the other two?"

"Yeeeeep!" He grinned, brilliant white teeth on show for the world to see. I nodded once. "Where's Ino and Hinata-chan?"

"They'll be along soon." I told him, whipping out my phone to text said blonde and pixie girl.

**To: Inosucks; Hinataaaa  
From: Saks  
WHERE ARE YOU! IF YOU DON'T SAVE ME FROM THESE LUNATICS NOW, I'M GOING TO PERSONALLY CASTRATE YOU.**

Sasuke and Kiba made their way to the serving bar, ordering themselves a drink whilst Naruto dropped onto the sofa opposite me. He tapped his foot and searched for something to say.

"So…" Great start, "what are we going to do about this project, then?" He questioned. I looked up into those forget-me-not blue eyes of his.

"I thought I'd get together with Sasuke and you to discuss it. We have a choice of any of the topics we've worked on during our school career." I told him, professionally.

He nodded his head slowly, "So, you haven't decided on which topic we're going to do?"

"Nope." I replied after taking a sip of my own cappuccino.

"Oh." He paused, glancing over at the other two males. "Well, Sasuke's with me now, we could—"

"Ino doesn't want me to talk about the project with Sasuke. She's a little insecure at the moment."

"And she has every right to be, you're gorgeous, and you're in a team with two handsome males. Why wouldn't she be?"

I felt as if I were about to blush as hard as Hinata. Naruto had had a crush on me back in middle school, but everytime he'd asked me out, I'd refused. Why? Because… urgh. It's stupid. I'm ashamed to admit it. Because I used to have a crush on Uchiha Sasuke. THEREISAIDIT.

"Move over, Dobe." The smooth, well educated voice of what could only have been and Uchiha heir muttered, setting down his cup of whatever and dropping quite comfortably into the squishy green material of the sofa. Kiba, who smelt wonderful, by the way set himself down next to me.

"It's okay if I sit here, right?" He questioned. I nodded with a smile. This was the kind of guy I wanted to see my best friend with. Respectful, smiley, _talkative_, and a sugar lover. He was currently sucking down a chocolate frappuccino with a ton of cream loaded on to the top of it.

"What's with the book?" Sasuke's voice questioned, just as my eyes returned to it. I snapped it shut – it seemed as if I'd never get to finish it.

"It's just helping me revise for my Drama project."

"Which is…?"

"I'm doing Comodia Del Arte." I told him. He snorted. "What?" I questioned, a tiny smile tugging on my lips. Why was there a tiny smile tugging on my lips? I guessed it was always there.

"Nothing. I just thought you'd be the type to study Shakespeare or something."

"I wanted to, but everybody else is doing Shakespeare… I guess I just wanted to be a little different."

"Aa…" A satisfied nod. I felt my phone vibrate.

**To: Saks  
From: Inosucks  
We're nearly there, girl. Be calm!**

I inwardly sighed with relief before tucking my phone back into my pocket. My eyes roved over the three males surrounding me.

This was awkward.

"How's things with Ino and you, then?" I questioned to Sasuke, because it was the first thing that came into my mind. Sasuke shrugged. I frowned. That wasn't usually a good response. But then again, it was also one of Uchiha Sasuke's only responses.

"How are things with you and the book?" He questioned back, smirking.

Oh, haha. Hilarious. "Pretty darn good, actually, Uchiha."

"I guess that's acceptable, _Haruno_."

I narrowed my eyes at him, and turned to look out of the window. It was then that the blue Barbie car appeared with my blonde friend and her blushing companion. _Finally._ Kiba, Naruto, and Sasuke's eyes all turned to watch the blonde and the pixie girl clamber out of the convertible. Ino was looking her usual amazing self in a pair of leggings, soft pink tank top, and her most prized leather jacket, completing her outfit with tiny, studded ankle boots and her long, _long _blonde hair cascading down her back. I _so _envied her.

Hinata appeared from the other side of the car with her own beautiful blue-purple-black hair straightened to the point of pin-like and swishing in whichever direction she turned her head. She was wearing her favorite loose, violet hoodie with her name written across the back that she had been given when she went on a dance tour and also a set of black leggings. Her tiny feet were covered by white ballet-pumps and, of course, she was the picture of untidy innocence.

The boys all appeared to slowly straighten as the girls entered the coffee house. Heads turned towards Ino. It was as if Sasuke noticed this, and he got to his feet to go and greet her at the bar. I shook my head at his total obviousness and beckoned little Hinata towards us. The blonde male eyed her curiously, as if trying to place where he had seen her before. He should have recognized her instantly, the goofball.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" I smiled, "Kiba, would you mind moving up—"

"No, no, Hinata-chan can sit with me!" Naruto announced, moving Sasuke's things to the side and patting the seat next to him. It was as if a red light bulb had been switched on inside Hinata's cheeks, and she stuttered out a very quiet,

"U-uhm, okay." She said, turning to give me a wide eyed grin and slipping gracefully beside Naruto.

It seemed as if my match-making plan wouldn't even need to go into action by the way that the blonde was looking at the pixie girl with that adorable little grin on his face. And the way that Hinata was blushing away. Kiba sighed next to me.

"What's up?" I asked on impulse, even though I didn't know him very well.

"Hm?" He glanced down at me, dark brown eyes seeming confused. He then remembered that he'd sighed, "Oh! Nothing, I was just thinking, that's all." He placed his chin in his palm and returned to watching Ino and Sasuke. My eyes followed his gaze. He was focusing on the blonde who was holding onto the larger hands that were holding onto her tiny hips and turning her head to giggle at something he'd said while he smirked and possessively kissed her cheek. How he'd made it even _look _possessive, I'd never know, but I grew a small amount of doubt in my mind that maybe he _wasn't_ back to his old, playboy ways. I'd never know for sure. He was too difficult to read.

* * *

**Notes: **Asking Alexandria – Right Now (Na, na, na). Go listen to it! I'm going to name all of these chapters after songs. Yay! Reviews for Shannon? Faves and alerts, maybe? Thanks for reading!


	2. Death To Your Heart

**Notes:** Wow! I didn't expect so many people to like this! Thanks so much for all of the reviews and support, I'm updating just for you! In answer to any questions, I figure that Sakura's kind of preppy, since she's friends with Ino. But I guess she's also into a couple of things that Sasuke is. She'll probably grow more to his preferences as they get closer. And yup! This will have KibaIno! I know that a lot of people aren't used to the pairing, but I love it, and since SBNY by Alive in Wonderland, I've just fallen in love with them. :D

**Disclaimer: **I disclaim! (That was supposed to be epic. Like when Donkey tells Shrek that he has to run into the church and yell, "I OBJECT!" but it doesn't work well through the computer. *cries*)

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

**- Death To Your Heart **** -**

**Sakura;**

When Sasuke returned with Ino on his arm and a vanilla latte in her hand, I began to examine the Uchiha. I was usually pretty good at working people out. Lies couldn't escape me, even when eyes evaded me. Body language taught me who was crushing on who. I was unstoppable – usually.

The pair dropped into one of those enormous, squashy arm chairs that seemed to have magically appeared beside Kiba. Ino pulled her too-long blonde hair over her shoulder and squashed in beside her boyfriend taking a long sip from her latte.

"God, I love these things. You wanna try some?" She asked Sasuke. He stared down at her for a long moment before nodding.

Oh, Ino. When will you learn?

Just as she raised the white cup towards his face, Sasuke snaked down and set his lips on hers, causing for Ino to giggle. I shook my head and turned away.

"This is a public area where people are trying to enjoy their food and drink, you two…" I mumbled. They glanced over briefly and then returned to grinning/smirking at each other with their noses pressed together. "Good grief." I muttered.

Beside me, Kiba stood up. "Sakura, you want another drink, or anything? He asked. I got him.

_Get away from the couples_. His eyes screamed. I nodded, standing up and following him to the bar.

"Sorry for dragging you over here, those two are just kind of sickening." He told me. I nodded.

"You can say that again."

"Sasuke knows that a lot of people like Ino, and it's just like he tries to show off, sometimes."

"No, believe me, I know. I was in middle school with him." I told the brunette, shaking my head. "Bad times, bad times…"

Kiba chuckled – a soft, velvety sound that felt warm to me and made me smile. I ordered a crushed ice raspberry drink, because I had managed to burn my tongue earlier. It was embarrassing. Kiba bought himself a cappuccino. We waited, surveying the rest of the coffee house. I turned my attention back to Kiba to realize that he was still shooting covert glances at the two – thankfully not PDAing anymore – sitting together in the green armchair.

What was so interesting about them anyways? It was just Sasuke and Ino. I mean, sure, they were both the hottest things to walk the earth, but they weren't that amazing. Well. Sasuke wasn't anyways. And the rest of the teenage population within the café had already gone back to their lives and stopped gawking. Unless… _no freakin' way. _

"Hey, Kiba, do you have a crush on Ino?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Kiba blanched.

"She's my best friend's girlfriend!"

"Yeah, but she's still pretty. So, do you?" I asked, holding onto the arms of his grey hoodie and pinning him from making any kind of escape.

The brunette looked around – a cornered rat.

"So, that'll be a yes." I smirked to myself.

"I-I-I-I did _not_ say that…" The brunette trailed off lamely. I glanced from him to Ino and smirked some more.

Aw, that was so sweet! I'd always wanted for Ino to get with someone decent; someone who actually had something in common with her aside from riches and beauty.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

Sasuke wasn't feeling too bad, actually. Usually, Ino's voice and the strong scent of the coffee combined would give him a migraine, but he seemed to be managing alright.

"…And so Ami was like, 'you better frickin' watch your place on the cheer squad if you're gonna act like a slut,' and I was like, 'bitch, please, I'm the _captain_ of the cheer squad.' And, I mean, since when is kissing in public a crime? I bet you she's just jealous."

Correction. He was almost alright.

"Hn." He sighed in boredom, his fingers running over a strand of her blonde hair between his fingers.

"Hinata, tell Sasuke-kun that Ami's jealous," Ino said, leaning over to her little pixie friend.

"Ino…" Sasuke murmured, "I got you the first time."

"No, no, you have to hear what this girl did. So she sees me talking with you in school, and she's all sweet and crap, and the minute I'm alone in the change rooms, she throws a fit at me. And I'm just like," She laughed a little, "'What the hell?', because, y'know you're my boyfriend and stuff—"

"Yes, Ino, I get it. You don't like her. Why not just kick _her _off the squad? That's what I'd do."

"Teme," Naruto piped up, looking philosophical, "you know _nothing_ about how girls work." Sasuke snorted. _Says Mr. Oblivious._ The Uchiha gave the pixie girl a soft smirk. He might have been cold, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for the lilac eyed teen. First of all, she had _Hyuuga_ as family. Neji was the definition of a cock-blocked, future psychopath. He was the quiet kid that studied hard in class that everyone feared. Just because they all suspected that one day, he'd get sick of allowing Tenten – obliviousobliviousoblivious – to copy his home and schoolwork. They'd tried to warn her, but…

Well, she'd threatened them with a spork.

…Anyway. The second reason that he felt a tiny amount of sorrow for the girl was down to the fact that she was so blatantly crushing on this blonde idiot, and he was completely ignorant to it.

She even called him Naruto-_kun._ That suffix was associated with _him_. Sasuke. Sasuke-kun. Ew…

"Do you know how quick Ami's friends would be to find some sort of way to sabotage Ino? Because they'd do it the moment you left her alone."

"Then," Sasuke drawled smoothly, "I won't leave her alone."

"Ooooh!" Ino squealed, totally ruining the complete epicness of his tiny speech, "Sasuke-kun you're so cute when you say stuff like that." The Uchiha blanked her and continued to stare at Naruto.

"And if I know nothing about girls… why are you still single?" He questioned, an ebony eyebrow arched, challenging him.

"I-I-I—" Naruto flailed helplessly, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"The truth is, Dobe, you can't get a girl."

"I _can_!" The blonde announced, pointing a finger at Sasuke and raising the challenge. "Give me three weeks! And if I can't find a proper girlfriend… I won't eat ramen for a year – no!"

"Done," Sasuke said simply. Naruto was about to argue when Kiba returned with the Haruno girl. They slid back beside each other. Inuzuka shot an almost strained smile at Sasuke who furrowed his brow and tilted his head. Seemingly asking, 'what happened to you?'

Kiba just shook his head. _Nothing._

"Saks, please tell Sasuke-kun what Ami was saying in the changing rooms!"

Not this again.

"Ino, I heard you the first time." Sasuke told his girlfriend firmly. She tensed against his chest. Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. Ah, here was the headache he'd been expecting.

"Sasuke," _Sakura._ "You're such an ass."

"Forehead!"

"Sakura-chan?"

"Sak…?"

"S-Sakura?"

"Hn."

Who could have expected it, the little study nerd was getting defensive for her friend. Sasuke rested his head against the armchair, eyes shut and a small smirk on his face.

"Don't you 'hn' me."

"…Hn…"

"Urgh. Ino, I'm sorry, I've had enough, and I'm leaving."

"Why?"

"I don't like watching you take his shit."

"Sakura," Sasuke spoke, "calm down, this is a public place. Secondly…" He opened his eyes and met her angry green gaze, "you're not attractive when you're angry."

"You bastard." The pinkette hissed, whipping past him. Ino watched her go with a worried expression on her face.

"I… I'm going to go see if-if Sakura-chan is alright…" Hinata stuttered. Sasuke made a noise in the back of his throat. He didn't even know why the girl was getting so worked up over something so trivial. How annoying.

"Wait! Hinata-chan, I was wondering…" The Dobe began, "Tomorrow, you should meet me."

"Huh?" Sasuke heard excitement in his girlfriend's voice.

"S-su-su…" The Hyuuga girl had gone beat red. Sasuke was up in an instant. Everybody knew that the Hyuugas – distant cousins of the superior Uchiha family clan – had terrible blood circulation. He caught her by the waist, and then dropped her gently onto the sofa next to a flaily Uzumaki.

"Ohmyfuck, what have I done? I made her dieeee. Teme! Ino! Dogface! Help herrrrr."

"She'll be around soon." Sasuke said. He glanced at Ino.

"Be right back."

"Where are you—?" But he didn't let her finish. He was already halfway out the door.

His Nikes hit the concrete with force as he followed the path that the pink-haired girl would be taking home. He could see her now, with her hands stuffed into her skinny jeans and her hoodie shielding her usually instantly recognisable form.

His long strides brought him in step with her easily.

"I don't want to talk to you." Haruno snapped. Sasuke rolled his eyes and caught her wrist, spinning her around to face him. "What the hell?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. What was that all about?" He asked her, trying to soften his voice. The smaller girl looked up at him – shit, she was short – with defiance.

"It's none of your business."

"It is, since you basically left because of one thing that I said."

The girl growled in frustration, "Are you cheating on Ino?" She blurted.

Sasuke was taken aback. "What?"

"You heard me, you man-sket. Are you cheating on Ino?"

"No!" He spat. He was being honest, too. He hadn't so much as _looked_ at another girl since he'd started going out with her.

"Then what's up with you? Why are you being such a bitch to her?"

"What… are you talking about?" Sasuke enquired, dazzled that he'd firstly been accused of _cheating_ (so what about what happened six months ago? That was the _past_) and then that the girl was still questioning him with such vehemence. Like, what the crap had he actually done to her? "I haven't done anything to you, or Ino. All couples argue." He reasoned. And, _god_, where had that headache come from?

"I have every right not to trust a word you say, Uchiha Sasuke. Ever heard of the saying, 'once a player, always a player'? It's what guides me to doubt everything you've said. And as for all couples fighting – get outta here! You and Ino have been going out for months without a problem, and then all of a sudden you're falling out all the time. Uh-uh. I don't believe you. That's why you were avoiding the conversation about Ami, Sasuke, because you totally are going behind Ino's back. You prick. Explain yourself."

Ouch. "…The fuck…? I swear on my life, I haven't touched any other girls. Ino's my girlfriend. Sakura, don't turn around." He caught her wrist and tugged her back around to face him. "I haven't done anything. And you can't blame me for…" Migrainemigrainemigraine, "…for…"

"Sasuke?"

"For telling her to shut up." He sighed out, all at once. Woah, where the fuck did that come from? Sasuke placed a hand on the side of his head. The world was suddenly spinning.

"You've gone as white as a sheet, sit down before you faint."

"I'm…" _Fine. I'm fine. _

However, Sasuke was able to drop his pride for long enough to lean against the brick wall behind him. His eyes fluttered shut and he calmly took a couple of deep breaths, before opening them again. Hard onyx, sparkled with tiny, glittering red, matched with worried, bright emerald.

"…I'm fine." Sasuke breathed, reaching a hand up to his shoulder to remove her hand.

Sakura pulled it away by herself. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing."

"…Fine." She turned away and continued to walk. "You should go home, you look like you could use some sleep."

Stupid nurse-in-training-fairy-ballerina-bipolar little Sakura. Sasuke glared at her retreating back, his hand still clutching the side of his head.

Woah. Where the fuck had that come from? That was some crazy freakin' headache. Sasuke removed his hand from his mused spikes, and let it slip into his pocket. He turned on the balls of his feet and made his way slowly back to the coffee house, head still ringing. Maybe he ought to just grab the mongrel and the Dobe and just _leave_. Then he wouldn't have to put up with Ino's voice.

Don't get him wrong, he liked Ino. _A lot_. But he didn't like the fact that every time he thought about her, his head would just get so twisted up and painful that he'd actually get a _migraine._

Or maybe that had been the coffee. Whatever. It hurt. Jus' sayin'.

* * *

**Sakura;**

…What a _wuss._ Did he seriously just get a headache from me yelling at him? Heh. That badboy ain't so tough.

No, it hadn't been me. It was exhaustion – I _was_ training to be a doctor at the hospital; I could try to guess, and hope I was right. The less you sleep, the easier it is for you to get migraines and headaches after stressful situations.

Oh gawd. I was _so not a bitch_! I suddenly felt very bad for screaming at him as I had, and spared the Uchiha a glance over my shoulder. He was flipping the black hood on his hoodie up and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dark grey skinnies. I looked back down at my boot covered feet and continued my short walk home.

I guess I had kind of overreacted. I'd just seen Sasuke looking bored and annoyed at Ino – like he'd rather be some place else – and I'd spazzed. But the thing was, Sasuke _always_ looked as if he were bored and would rather be someplace else. I bit my lip.

I'd make it up to him whenever I next talked to him.

I suddenly hoped that'd be sooner rather than later. I honestly felt… bad. I'd acted like such a bitch. But then again, I had been acting like a bitch to the _prick_. So… huh. Strange world.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

Home. Shower. Bed.

That was his plan. He'd said a brief goodbye to Ino, kissing her on the cheek, rather than the mouth, because he had a horrible feeling that he was getting sick. And it was still frigging autumn. God, he hated his life. She'd pouted at him, and he'd told her that he'd call her later. He wouldn't though, because that wasn't part of his plan. She'd call him, probably just as he was off to sleep.

Kiba eyed Sasuke with a strange sort of 'I'm-trying-to-work-you-out' kind of look. Sasuke shrugged at him as he slid into the front seat of the car (of course he was in the front. Naruto didn't know the rules of shotgun. Tch.

"Dude, stop with the look," Sasuke muttered eventually, placing the palm of his hand on his forehead. "It's annoying."

"I'm sorry," Kiba replied, tapping the play button on Sasuke's iPod.

'_I've got this gun to your head;__  
__I've got blood on these hands.__  
__I'll be your eternal, never ending;__  
__I'll be the end of your beginning.__  
__I'm the battle to your every war;__  
__I'm the first rip of everything torn.__  
__I've got no room in this heart -__  
__Gonna tear you apart!'_

Sasuke was thankful that this wasn't one of the irritating songs by Blood on the Dance Floor. He couldn't stand some of the music he had on his playlists, and he guessed that it was just luck that this was playing. It was only about an eight minute drive to his house from the Starbucks, and Sasuke was thankful that he'd chosen to let Kiba drive him. He somehow, suddenly, felt all of his energy drain out of him.

"Teme, guess what?" Naruto croaked from behind him. Sasuke let his head roll to the side to let the blonde know that he was paying attention to him, "I got a date."

"…Oh…?"

"Yup! Hina-chan agreed to go out with me tomorrow night. Y'know, after she woke up."

Oh yeah! He'd forgotten that. Sasuke almost smirked to himself.

"Hn." The Uchiha murmured, "Cool."

"I know. But… I need some advice."

"You wanna know where to take her, right?"

"…Yeah." Naruto nodded in the rear-view mirror, "Where'd you take Ino?"

"Movies," Sasuke grunted. It had been _awful_. The girl had attempted to grab his hand all through the film – she just didn't seem to understand that he was sort of trying to get to the popcorn?

"I'll take Hina-chan there too!"

"Fantastic. You can drop me off here," Sasuke added to Kiba, he could see his house on the corner of the street. Kiba instantly hit the breaks, 'causing the wheels to scream a little on the road. The brunette laughed at the looks passers by shot towards the car. "Smooth." Sasuke rolled his eyes, slipping out of the Audi.

He waved his hand once and felt the car skirt from his side and disappear around the corner of the street. He tugged his skinnies up by the belt holders and placed his hands back into the warmth of his pockets.

It wasn't long before he was standing on the doorstep of his three story tall, modern home. He unlocked the door and slid in without so much as a word to his father as he passed his study. He went into the kitchen, digging in one of the many, wooden cupboards.

Painkillers… painkillers.

"What are you looking for, Sasuke?" His mother asked softly, realizing his presence, and turning from the dining table where she was reading a book with a mug of tea at her side. Sasuke turned and gave her a small smile in greeting.

"Have we got any Paracetamol?" He asked her.

Uchiha Mikoto nodded, her long, darkdarkdark hair that was almost completely twinned with his own bobbing along with her head. "That drawer, sweetie. Why do you need it?"

"No reason." Sasuke murmured, distractedly. He didn't like being asked personal questions. Even, 'how are you?' was a bug to him.

"Okay…" His mother nodded again, "Do you want me to bring you dinner?"

"No," Sasuke replied, shaking his head, bangs swishing. "I'm just going to bed. If anybody calls for me—"

"I'll tell them to leave you a message on your cell." She smiled. Sasuke nodded his head. He poured himself a glass of water, and then disappeared. Mikoto sat in the kitchen, listening to his footsteps as he made his way upstairs. What was going on with him?

* * *

**Notes: **LAME chapter, but whatever. You got to know Sasuke better. I also write him pretty differently to a lot of FF writers, who make him pretty close to the little emo's self in the manga/anime. I figure, if Itachi and his family are still alive, he's _supposed_ to be happier, I hope that clears up any OOCness. That's just my style. I hope you enjoyed it! The song was "Death To Your Heart" by Blood on the Dancefloor. I'm sick, make me happy with your reviews!


	3. Tigers and Sharks

**Notes: **I'm so in love with all of you right now. Thank you, everyone! The reviews were what got me motivated to get this chapter up. (:

**Disclaimer: **HAHAHAHA, no.

**CHAPTER THREE**

**- Tigers and Sharks - **

**Sakura;**

It was Monday, first period. Biology. That meant sitting and studying with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke for one hour whilst trying not to stab myself in the face.

Orochimaru-sensei walked around the dull green and grey lab, handing out laptops to each group. When he got to us, he eyed the three of us in the most freakish way through his golden-green-cat eyes, and then continued to walk. I shuddered.

"Sakura-chan, what's the matter? Are you cold?" The blonde Uzumaki boy questioned, eyes wide and worried. He was so over dramatic, it was adorable.

"I'm fine, Naruto." I told him, hitting the silver power button on the laptop and watching as the screen loaded up with the red and white colours of Konoha High. "I'm logging in from my account, is that alright?" I asked the other two. Sasuke nodded mutely, his cheek in his palm and his facial expression utterly dead. Naruto also nodded, blonde spikes bouncing.

"So, what's our actual objective here…?" Sasuke asked the group, running a finger over his bottom lip. I glanced at the sheet of paper that had been passed around to every group.

"We're to make a presentation on a certain subject that we learnt about… at any time through school in Bio."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Naruto asked? Sasuke threw him a sideways glanced, one eyebrow raised. The blonde backed away, "What?" He cried.

Sasuke shook his head, "You made that sound as if you're actually going to _work_ on this project."

"I _am_!"

"Sure."

"Teme!"

"Alright, you two, stop arguing for five seconds. What topic do you want to do?"

"Sex and reproduction." Naruto said instantly, I shook my head and looked to Sasuke, who shrugged uncomfortably, shifting away from the Uzumaki, seemingly disturbed.

"…I don't know…" He muttered.

"…Photosynthesis?" I suggested.

Naruto shook his head, "_Noooo_. That's so _boring_."

This debate lasted for a good twenty minutes before Orochimaru assigned us a topic himself, becoming bored of Sasuke and Naruto's squabbling and my sighing.

"If you're going to be so immature about it," The teacher breathed behind Sasuke's head, "I'm going to set you the task of the effects of drugs and alcohol on the human body."

"Isn't that a chemistry topic…?" I questioned, but the snake lover silenced me.

"You will concentrate on two organs," He continued, "the lungs, and the liver, and must come up with a presentation depicting the break down of these as the offensive chemicals destroy them." And then he walked away. Sasuke raised a hand to the back of his neck, seeming even more disturbed than before.

"He breathed on me."

"Yup," Naruto nodded, "me too."

"That was really weird." Sasuke muttered, shuddering. Naruto shook his head.

"That guy's so creepy."

"And slightly morbid," I added. Sasuke and Naruto both nodded in agreement.

We spent the rest of the lesson planning out our presentation; even though we weren't exactly sure that the topic that Orochimaru-sensei had set us was even a Biology subject. Sasuke dismissed it, having being taught by him last year.

"It's better not to argue." He'd said, without any further explanation.

It was as I was packing my bag to leave that Sasuke casually sauntered over.

"Hey." He said, leaning against one of the benches. I glanced up with him. He hadn't been too much of an ass today, so I thought I might reply.

"Hey."

"The Dobe and Hinata are dating," He drawled, "thought you should know." And then he walked away, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder and pressing his headphones into his ears. I stared after him, trying to understand what he was—

Oh _hell _no.

Did that mofo just steal my idea to get those two together? DID UCHIHA SASUKE KIDNAP MY MATCHMAKING PLAN?

* * *

**Sasuke;**

One point to Sasuke, cha-ching.

* * *

**Sakura;**

I met the pixie girl at break near the computer suite. She was flushing uncontrollably under my looming gaze.

"So, I hear you got together with Naruto," I said, dramatically grabbing a hold of her shoulders, "THAT WAS MY PLAN, HINATA. MINE." I cried. The Hyuuga looked away, lilac eyes appearing terrified.

"Sasuke-san made a bet w-with Naruto-kun," She babble-murmured, I listened intently, "and-and-and he asked me to… see him…"

I let her go, "Awww, I'm so happy for you!"

"Th-thank you," She giggled and blushed a deeper shade of red. Ino danced around the next corner, her hand linked with the one and only Uchiha Sasuke's.

"The star has arrived~" She sang, I heard Sasuke chuckle a little as he let her go. "Hello Forehead, hello Pixieeeee."

"Are you high?" I questioned, seriously concerned. Ino shook her head.

"Nope!"

"Why… why are you so happy?" Hinata asked as she pulled herself out of a suffocating hug given to her by the blonde cheerleader.

"'CAAAAUSE," Ino announced, "I kicked Ami off the cheer squad!"

"Congratulations," I murmured, hugging her for the hell of it and shooting Sasuke a raised eyebrow look. He rolled his eyes and looked as if he were about to sigh, but Ino turned around and went back to standing by him.

"It was all Sasuke-kun's idea," She giggled, reaching up and lacing her fingers around the back of his neck. She eyed him adoringly; Sasuke smirked down at her.

I considered this. Sasuke had definitely said that he wasn't interested in any other girls, or that he'd touched any others. And sometimes, the way he looked at Ino was so sincere – like there was nobody else in the room. But then I remembered Kiba, and how _he_ had looked at Ino in the same way.

And then I felt slightly envious of my best friend.

The man magnet.

But I was one of the girls who didn't need a guy to make her happy, and I'd stay like that for as long as I pleased, or until Mr. Perfect came along. Ino could attract as many pieces of eye candy as she pleased. I would _not_ be jealous! That wasn't a part of who I was. I focussed on my friends before myself.

But now that Hinata had Naruto, maybe I could take some time to find myself somebody. Or… I could help Kiba out. I never liked Sasuke going out with Ino anyways.

And it wasn't because I used to crush on him! It was because she was Ino, and he was Sasuke, and they were both… maybe, physically, they were perfect for each other. But Ino and Sasuke were on two different worlds on the inside.

Ino lived in colours, glitter, fairy lights and alcopops. She lived in hair products, make up, clothes, shoes. She lived in pop music and dance tunes. She was a cheerleader; a gossip whore; and an attention seeker.

Sasuke was the opposite. He preferred tones to colours, and didn't party like a girl. He partied like a _man_, dammit! He was sharply dressed, sure, loved his shoes, but he wasn't at all interested in pop or dance. He loved his metal and alternative with a strange passion. He might have been a sports star in the making, but he didn't really care about what else went on around him. He was himself, and if people couldn't accept that – like he'd give a fuck.

Opposites. Complete opposites. And I know that the saying goes, "opposites always attract," but Sasuke and Ino were just _too _different.

I… am I getting anywhere with this? NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME. I just think that Kiba, the fun loving, adorable, _hell _attractive soccer player would have been so much better for my best friend. I… just. I JUST DO, OKAY!

* * *

**Sasuke;**

With Sakura glaring forty daggers at him from behind Ino, and the blonde girl squeezing him tightly, Sasuke began to feel slightly self conscious.

_Stop looking at me._ He glared shortly at Sakura. _Dammit, Ino noticed._ The blonde cheerleader let go of his dark blue t-shirt and turned to glance at Sakura.

"What's going on with you two?" She asked, a dark blonde eyebrow raised. Sasuke shook his head.

"That's something I'd like to know myself." He muttered, "Anyway," He glanced down at Ino, squeezing her wrist briefly and letting her go, "I gotta go find Kiba. He wanted to speak to me earlier, but couldn't."

"Okay," Ino replied softly. He evaded her tiny hands that seemed intent on tugging him down for a kiss and continued down the hall with his hands in the pockets of his grey skinnies. He turned his head to Sakura.

"You're coming to mine after school," He told her. Sakura didn't make any kind of reply, and so he added, "Naruto will bring you."

He heard Ino gasp slightly. Oh, right, _feelings_.

"Love you, babe." He shot down the hall to her. She seemed better after that.

"You too!"

That complete, Sasuke turned a corner, his black chucks hitting the green matting on the floor, dark eyes searching for a certain tattooed brunette.

Ah, there he was.

"Kiba," Sasuke half yelled, his posture not changing. Girls heads whipped around at the sound of his voice, some even becoming so bold as to approach him. But Sasuke didn't speak to one of them as he made his way toward his friend. "You wanted to speak with me?" He hinted when the brunette gave him a curious stare.

"Oh, uh…" Kiba turned from where he was talking to the violet haired girl, Ami. Uh oh.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" The girl called, interrupting Sasuke and Kiba.

"…Do you need something…?" The raven questioned, eying her suspiciously. She marched up to him.

"You told Ino to kick me off the cheer squad?"

Sasuke thought, and then nodded. "Yes, yes I did."

The girl hissed. If she were a dog (…which she kind of was…) her hackles would have raised, "Okay, you fucked with what I love, now I'm gonna fuck with you."

"Go nuts—" Sasuke half drawled before he found that he was yanked down by the chin and had the girl's foundation smothered lips over his. The Uchiha's eyes widened for a moment before he actually _heard_ the gasps. He pulled backwards, glaring down at the brown eyed girl in utter disgust. "What the f—?"

"You never called me back!" The violet haired teen cried dramatically, "Is that how you treat girls, you sleep with them and never call them back?"

Oh, shit! This was bad. Sasuke almost panicked. So many people were listening in to this conversation now, the Uchiha bit his cheek. He was furious.

"I didn't sleep with you, I have a girlfriend." He hissed.

"You never told me that!" The girl, Ami, cried. Sasuke glared at her before he found that he was being jostled down the hall by Kiba.

Sasuke turned to swear at his brunette friend before he promptly received a punch in the face.

"What the _hell_?" Kiba hissed at him. Sasuke glared up at his friend, "You banged some other chick without telling Ino?"

"I didn't—" Sasuke began, before he heard some more gasps and then a sob. His head whipped around so fast that Sasuke almost thought he heard his neck snap. Shit, he'd been in this corridor less than three minutes ago. And… oh, fuck. "Ino…" He breathed, snatching out of Kiba's firm grasp and sprinting down the hall after the ribbon of long, blonde hair that had vanished from his sight.

Holy shit, what the fuck? That girl was the one that Ino had always been complaining about and irritating him. So to get rid of his problem, he'd had to get rid of her problem. And this was how it had turned out? Fuckfuckfuck.

"Ino—!" Sasuke half yelled, he could see her now as she slipped into the girls bathrooms. The Uchiha glared at the little chick sign before pushing the door open and stepping in.

Huh, pink.

Oh, _balls_, pink.

"Get out of here, Uchiha."

"No, Haruno. Get out of my…" Sasuke trailed off, seeing Ino come sprinting out of one of the cubicles with a bunch of toilet roll wrapped around her hand. Her left hand. Her right hand was currently flying at his face.

_Slap._

"Don't _talk_ to me!"

Sasuke's head turned to the side with the force of the hit. He exhaled through his nose.

"I didn't do anything." He breathed. There was an almost dead silence. His blonde girlfriend looked up at him, her baby blue eyes were hurt. Even he could see that much. He tried to convey the message through his usually emotionless eyes.

_I haven't slept with anybody, I swear. Ami's lying, Ino. It's _Ami_ after all. Please._

Oh god damn. Did he just mentally beg?

Ino shook her head, turning away from him. She spoke to him, looking through the mirror at the far end of the room.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry, but Sakura _warned _me that you were going to fuck up." At this, Sasuke shot the pinkette a murderous look, "And…" Ino seemed to choke on her words. The raven felt a slight pang in his chest, "And… I don't know anymore, okay?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," …That was Tsunade's scandalized voice. The headmistress of Konoha High. But Sasuke didn't care. "Come out of the girl's bathrooms immediately."

"Just… go, Sasuke-san." Pixie girl stated. Whoa, where had she come from? Sasuke continued to watch Ino.

"Sasuke, you should go." She sniffed. Sasuke didn't budge.

"Whatever you hear today," The Uchiha said quietly, calmly, "it's a lie, Ino, I didn't do a thing."

"Yeah, whatever." The blonde mumbled, as Tsunade burst into the room.

"OUT!" She roared. Sasuke gave the back of Ino's head a long, hard stare.

How could she not believe him? After every little fight, she'd believe some stupid rumour? She'd believe what she overheard Kiba say? Kiba didn't even _know _shit. The Uchiha teenager fumed as he swept out of the girl's bathrooms, his head spinning with questions and confusion.

* * *

**Sakura;**

Oh, Ino, Ino, Ino. Hinata and I had created a little cage around her in the corner of the bathroom. She was sobbing quite hard into my shoulder. Ino had always been the dramatic type, but this time, I could almost feel her sorrow.

"Are… are you sure you heard Kiba-kun right, I-Ino?"

"I heard him perfectly," Ino shuddered, "He said that Sasuke-kun had slept with some other girl. He was mad, Hina-chan. Kiba was mad, and so he punched Sasuke-k— I don't even know why I'm calling him that anymore."

"That's alright, sweetie." I put in, as she sobbed some more.

"I just… _everything was fine earlier_." She squealed out, seeming furious now, "And he has the cheek to just _waltz_ in here and…"

Ino went into a long, long rant concerning how men, especially Uchiha Sasuke are conceited pigs, and how they all deserve to get punched in the face. She then came to the topic of how glad she was that Kiba had punched Sasuke in the face. I grinned at her.

Well, she was certainly never one to stop whilst still being pretty.

"Kiba's a real man. He stood up for me. Kinda."

"Kiba really likes you, Ino. If you want to get back at Sasuke, there's only one way how." I smirked at her, "Get with his best friend."

"Sakura, you're a genius!" Ino cried, whipping her phone out of her purse and tapping madly at the touch screen.

"What… what are you sending?" Hinata asked, timidly.

"I'm asking Kiba if he wants to see me."

"I-Ino-chan!" Hinata squeaked suddenly, "Please don't just use Kiba-kun as your… your rebound. He's… he really, _really_ does like you." She stuttered, seemingly horrified at the idea of Ino using Kiba for her evil methods. I bit my lip. I felt the same. Ino was silent for a small while before she sighed.

"I like Kiba, I want to get to know him better. And he can also fill me in on what happened with… with Sasuke." She looked at Hinata, the corners of her eyes still red and sore looking from crying.

"But if I feel like I'm leading him on, I promise you that I won't lie to him."

I hoped that she was being sincere about that.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

"Dobe,"

"Bizeee."

"Dobe,"

"Urgh!" Naruto whipped around from where he was pumping basketballs and glared at the Uchiha. His glare instantly vanished and was replaced by a worried frown when his bright, blue eyes landed on his friend.

Sasuke wasn't sick, but he was definitely paler than Naruto had last seen him.

"What's the matter, buddy?" He questioned. Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Ino and I broke up. I think." He murmured. Naruto seemed horrified at the statement. He stepped closer to the raven.

"Serious?"

"Mm," Sasuke nodded, "quite serious." He would never usually come to Naruto about these sorts of personal problems, but he couldn't talk to Kiba. Kiba still didn't understand what Ami had been doing, and was still pissed at the Uchiha.

"What the… what happened?" The blonde asked, scratching one of the scars on his cheeks.

"It's stupid," Sasuke sighed, dropping into one of the dark blue seats of the bleachers within the gym. Naruto eyed him, waiting for the Uchiha to continue. "I… was looking for Kiba," Sasuke began, "and when I found him, Ami Teriyama saw me. I told Ino to make her leave the cheer squad, and she was mad about that, so she said some bullshit about fucking up what I loved." At this, Sasuke snorted dryly. Naruto continued to watch his friend, "Ami kissed me. A lot of people saw – no doubt that'll be getting around soon." The Uchiha dawled, "And then she started spewing all of this shit about me sleeping with her, and Naruto, you know that I haven't done anything with anybody. You've been with me to every party and you've known me longer than anybody else, I…" Sasuke realized that he was getting carried away, and slowed himself down, "I haven't done anything, man."

"That's pretty deep, I mean. Shit. That Ami girl is such a whore! What happened then?"

"Kiba misheard everything, he thought that Ami was being serious. Punched me," Sasuke displayed the small bruise on the corner of his jaw, "Ino heard him talking to me. Spazzed. I went to explain… and she just told me to leave. I'm almost certain that she's dumping me."

"Oh," Naruto sighed, not sure of what to say, "Damn!"

"Hn."

The two teenagers sat in silence, minds focusing on what they could possibly do. Sasuke's eyes closed.

"Fuuuuuck…" He cursed. Naruto nodded mutely (for once).

Today had started out well! What the hell had happened? Sasuke inwardly groaned. This was, in a word, shit.

* * *

**Notes: **Cliffy? Maaaaybe? Thanks for reading, this chapter involved two thirds of the dramatic break up, next chapter, Sasuke gets raped. Lol, not really. But whatever. Uhhhh, I think that's all I have to say. Oh yeah, I dyed my bangs orange? They're fun. Hahaha! Okay, have a good night/day/whatever. The song was Tigers and Sharks by Youmeatsix - I thought it fitted Sasuke and Ino's situation. Sorta. Reviewsies? ;D


	4. The Mortician's Daughter

**Notes: **I kind of love you all. Sorry for the long wait, I sort of do a chapter for each of the stories I'm writing at a time, if you get what I mean. Oh, and I love Andy Six; BE MAI WIFE.  
**Disclaimer: **I really, really do not own Naruto, or any of the other brands mentioned throughout this story.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**- The Mortician's Daughter**** -**

**Sasuke;**

How he got through school without throwing a fit at some of his teachers, Sasuke would never know. He sighed loudly as he closed his bedroom door, closing his eyes in an attempt to rid himself of the thoughts of homework and explanations and Facebook messages and statuses. For a long moment, he just allowed the calming, neutral colours of his room to steady him.

His room, like his house, was large. He didn't really _need_ a terribly big bedroom, since he preferred not to keep things. Trophies, medals, and rosettes mostly covered the first, dark blue wall on the left side of the white door. On the wall opposite, surrounding the large, rectangular window were posters and photographs, as well as a notice board with dates and timetables tacked onto it. The head of Sasuke's double bed was pushed up against the wall opposite the door, with a desk and chair beside it, and a few other furnishings.

There was also a door on the 'trophy wall' – as his mother would call it – that lead into Sasuke's closet. He'd actually almost begged his mother and father to switch rooms with him when he'd found it. He'd always thought that walk in closets were so _chickish._ But, apparently, the girls who came over – before Ino – loved it.

And, finally, if you were to walk through the dark closet with the dim, circular ceiling lights, you would find the bathroom.

This was where Sasuke spent most of his free time. It was his sanctuary. Only his most prized possessions made it into this room – the rest went into the giant closet. The tall, dark haired Uchiha glanced at the black stand in the corner of the room, holding his _oh-so-precious_ Gibson Les Paul guitar. He'd received it for his fourteenth birthday. His brother had hinted quietly that it had cost his parents well over six thousand dollars brand new. Nobody touched that beauty. Ever.

Usually, Sasuke would play his heart out on the "Black Beauty", but since he was expecting guests, he didn't want to get too into it. Once Sasuke started, he found it very difficult to stop, because he got so much enjoyment out of the torment he placed on his fingers. After he'd got his first acoustic guitar when he was twelve, he'd played so hard and for so long that his calloused fingers had bled. Itachi had said that that was a good thing, so Sasuke didn't stop.

So, he wouldn't be playing his guitar. He wouldn't be blasting music out of the Sony stereo either, because Naruto would just destroy his playlists again. Not that Sasuke was OCD or anything. He just… liked order. Order was _good._

But then, what _could _he do to pass time? Sasuke fidgeted a little bit. He could call Ino. He could call Ino and _explain _to her the _truth _about what had happened in school.

The Uchiha reached into the pocket of his dark blue skinnies, pulling out his phone, and went to drop down onto the dark red, tinted with black sheets of his bed. He lay down, fingers searching for one name.

_**Call **_**- INO – **_**Message**_

Sasuke hit the left button, listening to the quiet, computerized ring. He then heard a click, and some shuffling.

He inhaled through his nose before speaking, "Ino?"

There was a short silence before, _"No, this is Kiba."_

Sasuke blinked. What was Kiba doing with Ino's phone?

"What are you doing with Ino's phone?" The Uchiha blurted. He inwardly scolded his mouth. _Bastard, stay shut._

"_She asked me to tell you… to leave her alone."_

"Nonono, wait," Sasuke interrupted, feeling himself heat up, "Kiba, man, you didn't even know what was _happening _and you got everything wrong. So give Ino the phone, and let me explain to—"

Sasuke heard the sharp sound of fumbling as somebody grabbed the mobile device on the other line. He heard a female taking a deep breath, and pulled the phone away from his ear just before she launched into her verbal attack, _"Sasuke, I annoy you. I know that, okay? I know that we never used too fight, but lately, I've been thinking that maybe we need to take a break."_

"What, but—?"

"_No! Let me finish! I heard that you had sex with Ami. I mean, that's totally cool. Like, at least I know why she hates me so much."_ Oh… no, no, no, that wasn't how it was at all!

"That's not what—"

"_No, you're right, and I know how I can be dramatic and how sometimes, you just can't handle that. Sasuke, Sakura warned me for ages – almost every day that you and me were going out – that you were going to break my heart. And d'you know what?"_ Her voice quivered.

Sasuke softened his voice, "What?"

"_She was right. I'm breaking up with you."_

The Uchiha hated, _hated_ the way that the usually bouncy blonde's voice cracked. He couldn't bring himself to talk, now. Girls and tears were always a horrible mixture to him. He never knew what to do. He could probably handle it better if he could see her.

They say that actions speak louder than words, and for Sasuke, that was true. He was _horrid_ when admitting feelings, and so he'd just hold somebody (Ino…) or kiss her to tell her that everything would be alright.

Unfortunately, he was on the phone to a sobbing girl right now.

"Ino, that... that's fine." He murmured eventually before hitting the 'end call' button.

He lay dead still for a moment before sitting up and launching his phone at his door. He watched with satisfaction as it shattered against the would, parts flying everywhere. He knew he'd regret destroying it later, but right now – he didn't give a fucking _shit. _

He'd given up _playing_ for that girl. He hadn't gotten hammered in a while, and he'd given up _smoking._

…So, he was never really into the whole 'smoking' thing, he'd still stopped when she'd told him that she hated the habit. And she was now with his best friend. Breaking hearts over the phone.

Sasuke never considered that he was actually _in love _with anybody. He'd always denied needing love from anybody. But right now, all he could feel was this dull ache in his chest.

Was that what everybody usually talked about? Heartbreak… was this the thing that people actually killed themselves over? It wasn't so bad. It was sore, though. He let out a breath, realizing that it came out shaky and in sections.

_Get a grip, Sasuke._

He reminded himself that he'd have visitors any minute soon, and straightened up. But _then_ he remembered just who his visitors _were_ and he groaned audibly

* * *

**Sakura;**

Everybody knows that Uchiha Sasuke lives in the nicest neighbourhood in Konoha. That's just basic knowledge! The richer you are, the nicer a place you can live in. And Sasuke's family were rich. His father was chief of the police force; his brother was studying to become a lawyer and had already taken part in two major cases, and his mother was a part time councillor. She was so nice.

I was standing on Sasuke's doorstep now, looking around wide eyed at all of the beautiful little features that one could only ever notice if they had walked up the path. Wind chimes that were so small you'd have to have been standing exactly where I was to hear them. Traditional water features and rock pools all crushed into his front yard. It was so beautiful.

Next to me, stood Naruto, tapping his foot impatiently, "Are you excited to be going into the Teme's home?" He questioned.

I raised my eyebrows at him, not answering. I was actually extremely intrigued – every girl he'd invited over in the past had always gone on forever and ever about how lucky he was to live such a privileged life and how much they hoped he'd bring them 'round again sometime.

Psh, as if… Sasuke didn't give a shit about anybody. And now that he'd gotten rid of Ino, he'd probably be straight back to his playboy ways. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he opened the door to let one of his recent fucks – probably Ami, the skank – out and invite us in.

I saw movement through the window and behind the door. Keys jingled and the lock clicked twice before Sasuke's head appeared. He was wearing the same, red lumberjack patterned shirt he'd been wearing at school over a pair of dark blue skinny jeans.

"In," He commanded – except that his voice wasn't quite as demanding as it usually was, "quickly."

Naruto grinned at me, "Ladies first, Sakura-chan." He said. I bit my lip. He was so adorable! I slipped past Sasuke and into the hall where I removed my light pink converse shoes and stood awkwardly whilst Sasuke and Naruto exchanged greetings.

Sasuke was probably not liking having me here at all. I would _not _be a bitch to him today.

My bright, bright green eyes circled around and over what I could see. The house, so far, was immaculate. Even this, the hall where muddy, dirty shoes went was neat and tidy. I could see at once that the theme for the entire house seemed to be some strange Japanese shrine. There were scrolls hanging from the walls with amazing calligraphy and a fish tank in nearly every room.

And the house definitely had a smell to it – as every house does – which reminded me so much of the Sasuke that I used to crush on.

"Sasuke, your house is beautiful!" I told him.

"Mm." He agreed, eyeing me as if he didn't want me around. I almost growled.

"Oh, Sakura-chan, don't mind him, he's just upset that Ino broke up with him."

"…Hn…" Sasuke seemed to nod, his dark spikes swishing.

I felt my heart rise into my throat. Oh _god._

"Why would you be upset?" I asked him, exterior cool, "You _were _the one that slept with Ami."

"I didn't." Sasuke said at the same time as Naruto leapt in to defend his older friend,

"He didn't!"

I looked away from the wall scroll that I was examining and eyed the pair of them, Sasuke with his arms folded over his chest and biting his lip, and Naruto watching him closely.

"…What? No, my friend Kiara saw her kiss you earlier, she said that Ami threw a fit because you didn't call her back…"

"Well your friend only saw Ami kiss me and _lie_." Sasuke told me, quite vehemently. Naruto nodded. "Believe what you want to, it's too late now." He sighed, and ran his long, pale fingers through his dark spikes and beckoning us through the house and up the carpeted staircase.

His room was probably bigger than my kitchen and living room put together. And immaculately clean. I had always thought that all of the sporty guys at our school were basically pigs in need of house maids, but it appears that Sasuke was able to keep his own area clean.

But, then again, the rest of his house also looked like this. Maybe he _did _have maids.

Sexy French maids. Like Dahvie Vanity.

Uh…

"So what kind of a presentation were you guys thinking of?" I asked the boys to rid the mental images invading my innocent mind.

"Powerpoint…" Sasuke murmured, dropping onto his bed.

"Well," I sighed, "that's helpful."

"Mm…" Sasuke sat up, "I apologize, but I'm honestly not exactly thinking of Biology projects, right now."

I bit my lip and looked down, taking out my school work whilst listening to Naruto speak without the usual attitude toward his best friend.

"Dude, if she can't see that you're not lying, I bet she wasn't worth all that time you spent with her." The blonde murmured and I heard the bedsprings contract as he sat down next to the raven.

"It's not _that _that's bugging me anymore. What's she doing with Kiba?" He asked, uncharacteristically. I'd never heard Sasuke talk about a girl after he'd dumped her. I didn't even think he spoke _to _them.

"She's probably doing it to get back at you." I turned to Sasuke, announcing the truth. That _had _been Ino's aim, at first.

"Get back at me for what?" He questioned, "That _Ami _person was mad with Ino for being chucked off the cheer squad by Ino, something that she 'loved'," The Uchiha gesticulated with his fingers, "and then said that she would be fuckin' with something Ino loved. She kissed me and started babbling some shit about me not calling her back after sleeping with her. I haven't done a thing – for once – but, being an overly emotional chick, she won't hear it. Sakura, you can believe that if you want to, but please don't accuse me of things anymore."

…That, for real, was the most I'd ever heard Sasuke say in one go.

I watched him watch me for a long moment. His onyx eyes were clear, not a trace of a lie or of guilt in there. I suddenly felt very cold.

Oh, no. What if he was telling the truth the whole time? That _did _sound like something that Ami would do, but…

"But Kiba punched you, I _saw_ it, he hit you and he said, and I quote, _'You slept with Ami and didn't tell Ino?'_ Kiba's your best friend… isn't he?" Sasuke was shaking his head.

"Kiba doesn't know the full story. He just basically saw Ami screaming her head off." Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

Oh, shit. So what I'd wanted for so long to happen had finally happened, but it hadn't left Ino overly upset, and it had Sasuke. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! I felt immensely guilty. I know it was entirely my fault for Mr and Mrs. Perfect's breakup, but still. My constant warnings to Ino must have helped to convince her almost straight away that what she'd heard was the truth.

"Oh." I replied, looking down at my coursework.

_Shit, shit, shit._

He _really _wasn't lying. He couldn't have been, because Naruto would have told me if he were lying. But the news that Uchiha Sasuke was back to his old, playboy ways had already circulated around the school... no thanks to me…

I felt really bad.

"I…" I began, "I'm sorry. I didn't know – you can't blame me, though, with your reputation—"

"That died six months ago…" Naruto put in,

"And with your recent fights—"

"Over absolutely nothing…" Naruto added, again. I twitched, stomping over to clunk my fist over the top of his uncontrollable, sunshiny spikes. "D'aow! Sakura-chan, _why_? Why are you so mean to me?"

"'Cause you're a dork who can't keep his trap shut," I growled, returning my attention to Sasuke, who had hidden his face in the crook of his elbow and was still laying sprawled over his bed. And that was when I noticed the guitar. Black, and beautiful, and shiny, with gold a golden finish around the sides and strings. "THAT'S SUCH A PRETTY GUITAR." I squealed, unable to stop myself from marvelling at it.

"I know right?" Naruto asked, apparently over the whole me-hitting-him thing. "Don't touch it, though; it's Sasuke's baby."

"Hn." Came the amused grunt from the almost silent Uchiha. I watched him.

"Play it?" I asked, expecting a no after all of the shit I'd done to him over the past weekend and today. But Sasuke hesitantly removed his arm from his face and stared impassively at me for a moment. He then glanced at his guitar, and then back at me.

He sighed, lurching up and picking it up, sliding the elegantly made black strap over his shoulder and picking at the strings for a moment. Naruto jumped to his feet.

"NO WEIRD EMO MUSIC." He cried.

Sasuke snorted at him, "Shut up, Dobe. The girl wants to hear a song," He returned his gaze back to me.

"Can you sing, as well?" I asked, grinning madly. I'd never expected him to even pick up the guitar for me, and maybe suggesting that he sing was pushing it, but Sasuke strummed some more.

The strumming quickly blurred into a soft, repetitive chord pattern, causing me to smile a little. I think I recognized the song; I'd heard it recently. And then, out of the blue, Uchiha Sasuke began to _sing._

"_I open my lungs, dear,  
I sing this song at funerals... No rush.  
These lyrics heard a thousand times, just plush.__  
__A baby boy you've held so tightly, this pain it visits almost nightly.  
Missing hotel beds I feel your touch."_

I actually think that I was in a state of shock. That was something I had never actually expected. A musician and a singer.

I mean, sure, the boy could belong to any of those famous bands with over a million fan girls, but…

"_I will await, dear,  
A patience of eternity, my crush.  
A universal still, no rust…  
No dust will ever grow on this frame  
One million years I will say your name.  
I love you more than I can ever scream."_

I think I died a little inside. Naruto, beside me, was pouting, his mouth turned upwards and muttering things like,

"Psh, I can do that, _easy._" …But I doubted he could. Sasuke's eyes were focused on something above my head, and his thin, light lips moved with every word that left his throat. And he was _singing._ Ohmaigawd.

"…_Regrets no longer in my head,  
But I promised you, and now I'm home again. Again, again, again, again, again, again;  
I'm home again."_

He almost murmured the last part, but I heard it. And then he was sort of silent as I awed him; glitter surrounding my eyes and my hands over my mouth and nose.

"Gosh, Sasuke, that was… like…" I struggled for a word – there were so many to choose from, "unexpected…"

Sasuke smirked a little, setting his guitar down and then dropping cross legged onto the floor to gaze up at me. "Unexpected?"

"Yeah, you're… you're…"

"You're the Teme." Naruto stated, completing the sentence for me. I nodded.

At this, Sasuke let a sharp laugh pass his lips, "Well… thank you for that… I guess?" He said, unsurely.

I didn't blame him; it's always awkward when people tell you that you're great at something – you just don't know how to reply.

"Don't worry about it," I chuckled awkwardly.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

Okay, this was just weird. Haruno Sakura _hated _him. She and Naruto had left a while ago, after the three of them had been treated to his mother's special ramen that she made for Naruto when he was over. Mikoto had instantly adored Sakura-_chan_ and had continuously chattered with her all through dinner – not really leaving much room for discussion between the two.

Sasuke sighed. Why the fuck was everything so confusing today? Why was… everybody acting so weird?

The Uchiha groaned, his head rolling backwards.

Mrawrrr. He needed to sleep…

* * *

**Notes: **I need to sleep. The ending for this kind of sucked, but I wanted Sakura to see that Sasuke wasn't such a bad person. And, I apologize if this is all over the place – I wrote it while kind of distracted. I'M WATCHING _CIRQUE DE FREAK_ AND THE GUYS IN IT ARE SO AWFULLY ATTRACTIVE. :3 Reviews for Shannon, please?


	5. Face Down

**Notes: **Merherh. I'm so lame. Also, a note on the chapter/song titles: the songs will never necessarily relate to the chapter, it'll usually be the song I'm listening to as I begin the chapter, and most of my play-lists are full of emo and the likes. (;  
**Disclaimer: **Disclaimed.

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**- Face Down - **

**Sasuke;**

Soccer isn't a hard game to play at all, kick ball into goal: easy. Especially for him, who happened to be captain of the soccer team, however it was becoming extremely difficult for the Uchiha teen to concentrate on the drills that he was putting his team through with the cheer squad rounding the track every three minutes.

The guys would joke around, puffing out their chests and wolf whistling at the girls, charming them, but Sasuke just watched, unimpressed. He was trying to get his head back on the ground after the immense flood of messages and support he'd received mostly from the chicks at Konoha High. That wasn't surprising. What _was_, was that he wasn't even interested in getting laid.

Back in the day of the infamous _playboy_, Uchiha Sasuke, he'd probably not be paying much attention to his training team. He'd be surrounded by a throng of girls offering him whatever he wanted in return for… something that they wanted. A certain something. That resided within his pants. Ahem, what?

But that wasn't the same Sasuke. He'd changed. His entire way of life had been changed by one fucking… girl…

How had this happened?

Naruto, probably sensing his inner turmoil, stopped attempting to jump tackle Suigetsu and bounded towards his best friend. Sasuke glared.

"What do you want?"

The blonde huffed, "Well, that was rude."

"I don't _care._" The Uchiha muttered.

"Hmph! Well, fine then. Next time you look like you're about to die, forget about getting any of _MY _attention!"

"I never even asked for your attention?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and waved his had, "Go… jump on Hinata or something."

"No, that'd damage her and she's tiny and she bruises easily. Like a peach. She likes peaches."

"That's _great._" Sasuke drawled, clearly uninterested.

"Anyway, I know you're watching Ino – dude, get on with your life, that chick dumped you and went straight for Kiba. Wasn't that what you were so depressed about last night?" Naruto asked, his huge, blue eyes eating into Sasuke. The Uchiha stared blankly at a patch of dying grass on the field. "If she got over you that quick… maybe she wasn't even worth all of that effort in the first place."

A sudden rush of annoyance forced Sasuke to stand to his feet and storm toward one of the soccer balls. He picked it up, weighing it in his hand, before dropping it onto the ground and striking out with his foot – sending it straight toward Naruto's head. The blonde chuckled loudly, swerving out of the ball's path and grinning. One of the passing cheerleaders stopped to pick it up and send it back to the centre of the field and only once she had begun to jog again had Sasuke realized who it was.

What the fuck was Haruno Sakura doing on the cheer team?

* * *

**Sakura; **

This had not been my choice, okay. But since Sasuke and Ino's team effort to throw Ami off the cheer squad, my blonde friend had announced that they were now a member short for their routine. I had been quietly reading in the corner of the cafeteria when they had approached me.

Ino, Karin, Tenten, and Temari. The four of them had sneak-attacked me from behind and literally dragged me kicking and screaming down to the gym. I think Ino had actually removed my T-shirt for me, throwing the regulation PE polo shirt over my head.

Those bitches…

So, here I was now, doing laps around the track and having balls booted at me by obnoxious Uchihas. I hate my life.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

He watched her discreetly as he and the guys made their way to the changing rooms. She was good friends with most of the girls on the cheer squad, despite the fact that she had completely different interests to all of them. Almost every single girl on that squad had at least had some sort of physical contact with him, or had asked him out.

But… Sakura. Cheer squad. WHAT THE HELL?

The Uchiha was quite honestly flabbergasted – but he wasn't the only one, it seemed.

"Maybe Hina-chan will join too, and then I could watch her!" Naruto grinned, a distant, perverse look in his cobalt optics. Sasuke rolled his eyes. That kid really did spend too much time with Jiraiya-sensei. It was disturbing in many ways. Sasuke, on this thought, edged away from the blonde.

_Everybody _knew what Jiraiya got up to when he was drunk. Wink, wink.

* * *

The Uchiha boy sat in IT with his headphones in and his project coming to life slowly on the screen. It was a banner and logo design task – the class had to create an animated advert by the end of the lesson that would fit into a certain bar at the top of a website.

Kid's stuff.

He was sitting slouched in the red, spinning chair with an uninterested expression on his face.

Drag… click… drag… oh. That wasn't supposed to go there. Drag… click. Much better.

"Sasuke…?" Someone's voice said unsurely from across the desk, Sasuke slipped a headphone out and eyed the person from around the black desktop computer. Inuzuka Kiba was looking at him with an apologetic expression on his tanned, tattooed face.

Sasuke stared blankly at the dog boy before shrugging his shoulders, "What?" He asked.

The brunette leant a little closer, "I'm sorry, Saks told me what happened with Ami – I didn't know."

The raven blinked. Sakura told him? "What did she say?" He asked, intrigued. Since they'd moved to Konoha High, Sasuke had always thought that Sakura _hated _him for the way he treated chicks.

"She said that I'd gotten it all wrong, and to back off of Ino. Uh…" The guilt on his friend's face told Sasuke that the Inuzuka teen hadn't meant to say that.

Oops…

"Back off of Ino?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, surprisingly calm. He was kind of the jealous type, usually.

"Uh, well, when she was so upset… I was sort of watching out for her and—"

"And…?" Sasuke continued to stare blankly at his friend.

Call him a sadist, but he loved to watch people squirm like ants underneath a magnifying glass under his gaze.

"And, uh, yeah."

"And what, Kiba?" Sasuke tilted his head a little: a picture of innocence.

"Don't worry about it… anyway, I can tell Ino, if it's what you want?" Kiba's shoulders sunk a little and he looked away, "I know you really like her."

Oh hell fucking no. Kiba liked Ino too? Sasuke had seen that look on Hyuuga Hinata's face every time that she'd ever given Naruto girl advice. He'd seen it on numerous other chick's faces when he rejected them: the way that they couldn't look him in the eye; the way they fidgeted. It was all too clear to Sasuke now.

What would he do? Ino was, in all honesty, the hottest, most popular girl in the school. But Sasuke had just managed to get his head on straight. In fact, before Kiba had said all of this, the Uchiha was considering staying single for a while. He didn't _need _a girlfriend. And… Kiba was somebody that the raven haired teen felt he could trust with somebody that he kind of cared about.

Sasuke snorted, closing his eyes and returning to his computer screen, "I don't want to go out with anybody for a while."

Kiba's mouth dropped open. "What?"

Of course that was going to be surprising – Uchiha Sasuke always had a girl on his arm. "Seriously," Sasuke added, "I don't."

Kiba seemed to relax a little, "You've got to be kidding, dude! You're a man whore."

Sasuke chuckled, "Whatever." And then returned to his banner, "If you liked her so much, you should have said in the first place – I wouldn't have minded. Much." Okay, that was kind of a lie, since Sasuke was easily envious of anything, but Kiba was one of his closest friends, and wouldn't have betrayed him even if Sasuke _had _known.

Kiba stiffened, visibly, "Oh-oh-oh-um… did I say that? I don't… _like_… her…"

"Psh, don't lie, Inuzuka." Sasuke muttered, jamming his earphone back in and clicking away some more.

He was seriously… _seriously _becoming soft. Like, really.

* * *

At the end of last period, Sasuke found himself cornered by a group of cheerleaders. _Fan-fuckin'-tastic_.

This group included the redheaded chick that Sasuke's friend, Suigetsu, had always had a thing for. Sasuke didn't blame him: the girl had a nice ass. Winkingsmiley. Her name was Karin and she stood next to the scary girl who had threatened him and his friends with a spork once – Tenten, and Shikamaru's girlfriend, Temari. Oh gawd. They were all kind of terrifying.

"Well, well, if it isn't Uchiha Sasuke. We were just looking for you." Tenten grinned maliciously, tightening one of two buns on the top of her head. Huh, she looked vaguely like a Pokemon with that hairstyle…

"You found me," Sasuke gestured around himself with his hands, "what is it?"

"We kind of needed to ask you a question." Karin stepped forward. Sasuke looked down at her, absolutely gutted to realize that he was only about three inches taller than her.

"Ask it, then," He muttered, becoming impatient. He had to get home. …He didn't know _why _he needed to be at home, but he'd rather be there than surrounded by these girls.

"Yamanaka Ino; do you wanna get back with her?"

_Uh, not unless she plans on asking me herself. Or letting me ask. Jeez. Besides, I said I'd let Kiba try his luck with her._

Sasuke decided to play it like the beautiful, emotional wreck that scored him a ton of girls back when he started high school.

"She…" He murmured, his dark eyes cast at his sneakers, "really cut me up. You know what I mean?"

Within a moment, Karin and Temari had thrown themselves on him.

"You poor _baby_!" The redhead cooed, "It's okay, it's okay."

"No…" Sasuke sighed, looking up to the corner of the hallway, towards a surveillance camera, "it's not worth going on in this world. She doesn't love me. If she did, she wouldn't have listened to those rumours."

"Sasuke, you're such a pathetic excuse for a person." Tenten muttered, unimpressed. She reached into her pocket and drew out her trusty spork, flicking it off of her index finger. Holy _shit_, yo.

"DON'T ADD INSULT TO INJURY, TENNIE. He's hurting deep, right now." Sasuke almost laughed at Karin's seriousness.

"I have to go." He muttered, removing the redhead from his person and gently pushing Temari and her painfully spiky hair away from him.

"Take it easy, Sasuke." Karin, who didn't believe in suffixes, murmured.

"I'll try to." The Uchiha breathed, turning and walking quite smugly down the corridor. Oh, he owned this school…

* * *

**Sakura; **

"SAKURA." My blonde friend came wailing as I began to trudge down the chewing gum covered concrete stairs out of school that afternoon. She flung herself at my person and hugged me tightly. It was then that I realized that she was sobbing. Again.

"Oh, no, Ino, what's the matter?" I asked her, patting her back and shushing her.

Once she was under control, my blonde friend moved back a little and wiped at her blue eyes with the sides of her long pointer fingers. "Kiba told me _everything,_" She began dramatically, I nodded, "that I wouldn't listen to _you _about."

"And do you see why you should have listened now?"

"Y-yes." The girl sniffed, avoiding my eyes, "'Cause you were telling the truth. But… but now, Sasuke won't take me back."

"What, you asked him back out?" I questioned, my eyebrows raised. I was kind of shocked that she'd bow down and actually _ask _a_ guy _out. That wasn't like her at all.

"No, no," The blonde sniffed, "Karin and Tenten and Temari all asked him what he'd say if I asked and," She inhaled dramatically, "he said no." she whispered. "He said… that I cut him real deep, and-and-and that he didn't want to go on in this world." And then she sobbed some more. "OH, SAKURA, WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

I held her tightly, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "Calm yourself down, chick, maybe the girls just twisted it to make it sound worse than it is."

"No…"

"Uh… yes…"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Listen, I have to get to Naruto's place – we're working on the project at his this evening and Sasuke's going to be there. I'll see if I can worm it out of him." Ino nodded gratefully. I paused, "But, Ino, you were with Kiba on the day that the two of you broke up – it might have shocked him a little that you were with his best friend."

"BUT SAKURA. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED IT." Oh… shit…

"Oh yeah." I straightened up, looking for an escape, "Ino, I really have to go – I'll work something out, okay?" I hoped I would. She stared at me for a moment before nodding and letting me go.

"Fine… but Sakura, I really don't know what to do anymore. I don't know if it's because I always had him with me or if it's because I liked him more than I should have or if it's just your Comodia Del Arte thing – but I really can't understand what I'm feeling. I don't want to go back out with him, but I sort of… I miss him." She murmured.

I eyed her for a little bit.

"Ino, you went out with him for six months! It's normal for you to miss him…" I got it now: Sasuke was her first serious boyfriend. And Ino, usually a total ice bitch that can overcome anything, wasn't used to the feeling that she was getting now that she was single. "It's going to take some time, but I know that, eventually, you'll get over him. Now, I really do have to go, I'm sorry. Text me or something, alright?" I called, pushing my pink bangs out of my bright green eyes and hurrying down the steps.

I totally had to stop with the "He-said-she-said" thing – it was going to get me into trouble eventually.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto lived in a beautiful, middle class home and had the nicest family in the entire world. I decided that long ago, when his mom, Kushina had brought my mother a box of cookies after she'd broken up with one of her boyfriends and had threatened to kidnap me and claim me as her own. Naruto's dad, Minato, had calmly lead Kushina away from the house before anything _too_ drastic happened, but I was still always happy to see the redheaded woman.

She treated me as she did Naruto, with love and support and _food_. Damn, Kushina made the most freakin' delicious ramen… even if she did put too much on the plate. But that was okay, because Naruto was usually quite happy to finish the meal.

I was sitting comfortably on one of the squishy brown sofas in the Uzumaki's living room. Half researching and half joining in with the boy's jokes.

"Oh yeah…" Sasuke murmured, out of the blue, "Haruno, how come you were with the cheer squad earlier. That was a little weird."

"Urgh," I groaned, sitting up, "Ino forced me in, since you and her kicked Ami off, she needed another member – and guess just who happened to be available?"

"Sakura-chan."

"Yes, Sakura-chan was kidnapped and launched into hell." I nodded to Naruto. The boys chuckled.

"I never would have put you down as one of the cheerleaders…" Sasuke murmured, "I've banged all of them, y'know that?" He grinned.

My eyes narrowed, "That's disgusting."

"Hn," The Uchiha shrugged and turned back around, "whatever."

"My turn to ask you a question," I announced, setting the laptop down and tugging on a strand of Sasuke's strangely spiky hair from where he sat on the ground.

He mumbled something like, "Noooo… not my _haiiir_…" and rolled out of my reach. "Speak."

"Okay, well, why'd you reject Ino." Sasuke blinked.

"OH MY GOD." He sighed loudly.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What's this?"

"Ino found out the truth about what happened yesterday and her friends asked Sasuke if he'd ever go back out with her and apparently he went completely _emo _on them."

Naruto cracked up, "Teme-_kun_, ickle muffin…" He said in a high pitched voice that, I supposed, was meant to sound feminine. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"They would have gouged my eyes out otherwise. And _Tenten _was there. And, well, you know what she's like with her sporks…" The Uchiha trailed off, a distantly horrified expression etching across his features. "And, my eyes, I'm sort of attached to them." He added.

I giggled, lamely. "Oh, I see. But that still doesn't explain why you said no – I thought you wanted to get back with her."

"I _did._" Sasuke pressed on the past tense, "But I decided that I want to stay single for a little while."

As he said this, his phone buzzed with a text and he pulled the device out of his pocket, onyx eyes scanning the screen before he slipped it back into his pocket. His eyes darted to Naruto's bright blue ones, "I have to go." He muttered, getting to his feet and leaving the room without another word. We heard him thanking Kushina in the kitchen and the door closing, and then everything was silent.

"Oh." Naruto said, "I hope he doesn't go back to his old ways…"

"I hope so too." I murmured, and then looked up, "Not that I actually care about him or anything – it's just that when he used to play girls, they'd always come to me for advice, and there was nothing I could really say because he didn't like them back."

"I know, it bugs me too… I mean, the Teme's so popular…" Naruto hung his head, "Sometimes his harem uses me to get closer to him."

"But, Naruto," I grinned, patting his shoulder, "you've got Hinata now!"

The blonde boy grinned, brilliant white teeth gleaming. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "That's right!"

"How did your date go on Saturday?" I asked.

I didn't know how it was possible, but the Uzumaki boy's grin widened, "Ehehehe, well… hasn't she told you herself?"

"No, she hasn't had time. She's been busy organizing the Christmas Dance and has been busy with school council meetings… I didn't even see her at all today!"

"Oh… well… it went great! We went for a movie. It wasn't that great, but she enjoyed it. Sasuke suggested it. 'Cause, he's her and Neji's cousin, so he was able to tell Neji to back off and warn me about Hina-chan's blood pressure thing. And then we went for a walk in the park and I bought her an ice cream and we just had a really good time, y'know?"

I smiled to myself. _Finally_! The entire school had been waiting for this. "So, when are you gonna ask her out again?" I asked, winking.

Naruto thought for a moment before answering, "I think we might go out Friday night."

AW. THAT WAS SHO KYOOT. "Ah, well that's nice." I smiled.

* * *

**Sasuke; **

…Fuuuuuuuck. He needed to stop with the late nights on school days. He remembered leaving Naruto's after he'd gotten a text that had sort of made him crazy. He'd met up with this girl, Nanako, and had spent the night with her. Sexing.

Balls.

This wasn't what he wanted. He licked his lips, faintly tasting peaches, and rolled over to face the girl in his bed and sighed, "We have school. Wake up."

She blinked her blue eyes open and whined, "Oh, Sasuke-kun, I had such fun last night."

Uninterested, the Uchiha sat up and mused his hair. "Yeah, cool, the shower's through there," He aimed a thumb in the direction of his closet, "if you need to use it. I'll ask Kiba to drive you to class later, but don't mention this to anyone."

"What— why?" The girl asked, her face falling. Sasuke flopped backwards into his sheets.

"I don't want to go back to being what I used to be," He murmured, and then glanced back up, his dark eyelashes fluttering. "Go get cleaaan…" He almost whined, too polite to tell her to get lost.

Nanako seemed to get it this time, and scrambled to the bathroom. In seconds, Sasuke heard the power shower's hissing and he slipped on a pair of boxers, almost sprinting down the stairs and ripping his phone out of his jacket pocket from where it lay at the foot of the stairs.

He was so lucky that Mikoto hadn't seen that – the woman would have ripped his ears off, for sure. He quickly dialled for Kiba.

"_DOUCHE. WAKIN' ME UP AT SIX IN THE MORNING. I'M GOING TO PUNCH YOU—"_

"I did something really stupid."

"_You're always doing something really stupid. What happened now?" _

"This chick texted me last night—" He began, but Kiba interrupted.

"_Out of ten?"_

Sasuke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I don't know, maybe a seven and a half for the face?"

"_Hot. Yeah, carry on…"_

"And then I got with this chick. And now… we need a lift for school." Hint, hint.

"_Sure, I'll fetch you at a more human time. BYE."_

"Thanks, Kiba." Sasuke shut the phone off, almost grinning. Despite almost killing him when he'd last spoken to that guy on the phone, he was still Sasuke's best friend. He was always going to be his four am phone call when things got rough.

And after a night of really letting loose, Sasuke was in a fairly good mood. Except that he smelt like sex. And it was gross. He launched himself back upstairs and snuck into Itachi's room.

"Need to use your shower," He explained, when his older brother sat up with a WTF look etched across his sleepy features.

"Mfshs." Itachi muttered, his face slamming back down into his pillow. Sasuke shook his head.

"Coherent, Nii-san,"

"Fuggeuhf."

* * *

**Notes: **Aw, so Kiba and Sasuke are sorted out and friendly again. But now Sasuke has to get a hold of his strange, sexual needs. And Ino needs to work out what the fugg she wants! I just love Agony-Aunt Sakura, she's so down to earth. But she'll let loose eventually. LOL ITACHI IS SHO KYOOT. The song for this chapter was "Face Down" by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I don't think I mentioned that the last chapter's song was "The Mortician's Daughter" by the Black Veil Brides, but there you go. Also, LMFAO I LOVE EMO SASUKE. The SasuSaku will probably start in the next two chapters or so, I hope you can bear with me. I just have to think of a suitable way to get things working for them. My stories write themselves, lol. Thanks for reading, everyone! Please, review and tell me what you thought!


	6. Complicated

**Notes: **Fanfiction was on the skittles and died a little bit. I couldn't update, I'm so sorry, everybody! This time, it's Avril Lavigne – Complicated.  
**Disclaimer: **I'mdisclaiming, kpceeee.  
**Dedication: **Japan. God bless you all, I wishwishwish, with all of my heart that I could help you out.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

**- Complicated -**

* * *

**Sasuke;**

The dark haired Uchiha teen hopped out of Kiba's car without a word to the girl in the back seat. She waved at him as she got out, and he merely raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement. He didn't want to _know _her anymore. She'd already flawed his hopes in straightening out his act.

Though, he was feeling a little less depressed— NO. He was _not _going back there! Sasuke frowned, tucking the front of his purple and black chequered shirt into his black skinnies and then stretching a little. He waited for Kiba to climb out of the car, and then began walking with him towards the colourful building blocks that made up Konoha High School.

Sasuke's feet hit the floor in an almost upbeat manner – the kind he always had after a good night. Even if he wasn't exactly proud of himself, he couldn't help the optimistic vibes that ran through his body. Everything was so vivid and beautiful in this autumn sunshine. Okay, wait, he did _not _just think that. Trees are green. They are _not _beautiful.

"What's up with you, man?" Kiba asked him suddenly.

Sasuke whirled around to face the Inuzuka teen. The boy's hair was ruffled from him having to wake up so early to fetch the Uchiha and his… burden. "What do you mean what's up with me?"

"You're quiet."

"Hn?" Sasuke was surprised by this. He was always quiet.

"I mean, more than usual anyway. You weren't even singing along in the car," Huh. Sasuke never knew that he sang along. That was embarrassing.

"Oh. I don't feel bad or anything. Must just be thinking too hard or something."

"Ah," Kiba agreed quietly, "maybe that's it." And then the brunette froze, "Wait, why are you thinking?"

Sasuke just shrugged. He didn't _think _he was thinking too hard. He was just… not sure what to do.

After six months of having a beautiful girl on his arm and his playboy routine demolished, Sasuke was at a loss. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He'd promised himself yesterday that he wouldn't pick up anymore chicks for a one-night stand, but he'd done exactly that last night.

"Kiba," Sasuke suddenly spoke, "how do you stay so straight edge?" He asked the question as if he were mocking his old friend, but in fact, Sasuke was kind of hoping he'd get some advice.

"Straight edge? Me? Well, firstly, I don't go to those parties that you seem to love so much. And I somehow manage to stick to one girl." Sasuke nodded.

"Oh." Well, that was useless.

"Sasuke-kun!" Somebody called from behind the two of them. Sasuke spun on his heel to give the intruder his attention. He caught sight of violet hair and dark brown eyes. "Sasuke—"

"Ami, get out of here." Kiba said bluntly.

"Yes, do." Sasuke added with a glare. This was the bitch who'd fucked up his everything. "I have no interest in speaking with you."

"Hear me out!"

Sasuke turned, a shield of ice rising up and separating him from both Kiba and the girl with the violet hair. He shoved his hands calmly into his pockets and ditched the pair of them. He could still hear the brunette telling the violeteen off with his trade mark growl.

Once inside the school building, the Uchiha leant against the cool metal of the lockers, waiting for the dog lover to catch up with him. He folded his arms and turned to look down the corridor.

Only, something blocked his line of vision. Sasuke nearly jumped at the enormous green eyes and even more shockingly pink hair.

"What the hell?" He said instead, backing away from the Haruno girl. Why was she _here_? Shouldn't she be some place like… like, the library or something? Where _did _the nerds hang out these days? "Sakura, don't do that."

"You're on my locker. Move." She commanded. Sasuke shifted away from whichever red metal box belonged to the girl in front of him, "Thank you."

"Hn…"

"Ami was looking for you by the way."

"She found me." He muttered darkly.

Sakura glanced over at him before jamming her keys into the lock, "And? What did she want?"

"I don't know." He answered, "I never actually— do you need help with that?" He questioned, as Sakura shook her keys in the lock muttering obscenities. She stepped back.

"That bastard," She huffed at the little red door.

Sasuke smirked, "Ask for another one," he suggested, easily twisting the key until it clicked.

"I would – thanks – but I just can't be _bothered._"

Sasuke's smirk widened and he shook his head. "Whatever floats your boat," He drawled.

"Sasuke," Kiba appeared at the glass door, "We have an assembly. Oh, hey Sak."

"Hi!"

"An assembly?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, honestly not wanting to move from where he stood, "What for?"

"I don't _know._ Neji just texted me – he also called us lazy shits, in case you wanted to know."

"I didn't."

"Fair. Anyway," He beckoned Sasuke, then. "Come on."

"Can't we just skip it? It's probably not important." Sasuke drawled. Kiba shrugged.

"Whatever. You can skip, but I'm going to go." And then Kiba disappeared out of the door and Sasuke was once again left alone with Sakura. This should have been awkward – her being best friends with his ex and everything – but Sasuke felt sort of comfortable with the pinkette now.

"Have you got to be anywhere right now?" He asked her.

* * *

**Sakura;**

"Have you got to be anywhere right now?" He asked me. I shook my head without thinking. Sasuke wasn't even doing any of his stupid, perverted (but hotWHAT?) smirking – I guessed it would have been safe enough to hang out with him for the duration of whatever assembly the soccer players had had to go to.

"Nope. I mean, I _was _supposed to be in homeroom, but I don't think anybody even shows up anymore. Kakashi-sensei's always so late!" I giggled a little at myself. Oh, how embarrassing.

"He is." Sasuke agreed, "Let's take a walk," He suggested.

Now, if I had been three years younger, I probably would have done a Hinata and fainted at that. However, I wasn't thirteen years old, and I was no longer that obsessive little girl from before. And while Sasuke was still gorgeous – Like, even more gorgeous than before, ohmai – he didn't seem too up for any of his evil manwhore tactics.

"Where to?" I inquired.

Sasuke shook his head without a word, "I dunno. Just… for a walk."

"Fine." I sighed, pulling my pink graphics folder out of my locker and closing it.

"Do you need help locking it back up?" Sasuke teased. I shook my head with a small smile.

"Nope, I'm pretty good with shutting it." I told him, grinning. I clicked it shut just to prove my point. Sasuke smirked and began to walk out of the door that Kiba had just left from. I followed him, totally not gulping in every piece of air that followed him.

Okay, I lied. I did sort of breathe the scent that followed him. It was nice. Kpce!

* * *

Sasuke and I sat on the running track, pretty much doing nothing but feeling the cold of the morning. My teeth chattered as I eyed the frost.

"It's not even ten, and I'm already handing my hoodie out. You girls need to… wear more clothes or something." Sasuke muttered, throwing a black and white chequered – just like his shirt – hoodie over my shoulders. I was instantly enveloped in that scent I'd been following. Just like clean and preppy aftershave. I loved it instantly.

Oh, crap. No. I didn't love it, I was simply wearing Sasuke's hoodie. That's all. Because he lent it to me out of the kindness of what I once thought was black heart. And we were just here as friends going for a leisurely stroll and he was Ino's ex and I did not have a crush on him at all.

Okay?

Okay.

"Thanks," I murmured awkwardly, sticking my arms through the holes and hugging myself, "that's much better."

"Hn." He smirked a little bit. "Good."

This was so weird. Uchiha Sasuke and I were supposed to be, like, arch-rivals and have an everlasting hatred for one another. We shouldn't have been talking. We shouldn't have been walking. And we most certainly should not have been sharing hoodies.

Damn it.

"Sakura,"

"Huh-whaaat?" I sat up abruptly, pretending that I had not just been having a mental argument with myself.

"Ino told me once that you're good with advice."

"Yeah, I am. Apparently." I added, not trying to blow my own horn or anything. Winkwink.

"…I could use some." He murmured quietly. I twisted and stared at him. _Uchiha Sasuke, you are one strange kid._

"You? Asking me?"

"Well, yeah." Sasuke replied, shrugging and straightening his shoulders. He cleared his throat and said, gruffly, "I mean, like, the guys are useless with that kind of stuff and I'm just…"

"…Lost?" I supplied. Sasuke didn't look at me but nodded his head once.

I couldn't believe this. Like, I actually couldn't. Sasuke wanted _my _advice when he knew that I could quite easily sabotage everything for him if he pissed me off? I mean, usually when people come for advice, they tell you secrets that they don't want the rest of the world to know. "Well?" I prompted, "What's the problem?"

Sasuke didn't answer for a moment. He flicked his hair out of his darkdarkdark eyes and then sighed a little, "But first, I didn't ask you for this, okay?"

"Of course you didn't." I waved a hand, eager to hear what he wanted to say.

"Right. I… this sounds stupid. I want to change, Sakura."

Please don't let that be a sex change – Sasuke is basically the main man candy in the whole of Konoha High.

"I want to stop being known as The Playboy or The Player or anything like that. You know what I mean? I'm bored of playing."

Well, _fuuuuuck _me! I never thought I'd hear this. "You do?"

"Yeah, but," Oh, of _course _there had to be a but, "I slept with this other chick last night and I don't think I'll be able to stop this as easily as I did." He paused, waiting for me to say something.

"I'm actually sort of stunned by that, Sasuke. I mean, after you and Naruto told me the truth about what happened with Ami the other night, I noticed that you'd changed a little bit. I don't see how you got the need to stay with that other girl after six months of Ino, though."

"I don't know either. She just texted me asking if I'd like to do something," He grinned a little and then made quotation marks with his fingers, "_like me._"

"Oh, good grief," I cringed a little, "do girls actually use those kinds of pick up lines?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said, shaking his head, "all the time."

"And is that what you do when you're bored?" I questioned, a dark pink eyebrow raised, "You go out and fuck girls?"

"Not always." Sasuke admitted, sounding slightly hurt by that harsh accusation. I apologised quickly.

"Sorry, sorry. But, um, yeah. I think that, erm, if you ever get another one of those texts and you're… ermmm… ya know." Damn everything. "You should just, like, sextherorsomething." I said the last part in a rush.

"Hm?"

"I'm not saying that again, and your smirking, so you know exactly what I just said, Uchiha Sasuke, do not do that!" And then I buried my face in my knees and tried to hide my embarrassment.

"I'm kidding, Sakura." Sasuke chuckled. I heard the sound of feet scraping against the rubber and felt cool fingers tugging my wrists away from my face. I blinked my eyes open and smiled up at the Uchiha. He grinned down at me, still holding onto my wrists.

And then we realized how strange this must have looked and jumped away from one another.

"I wasn't touching you!" Sasuke announced, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets and strolling away.

"And I wasn't giving you advice!" I yelled at him.

"If you did, it would have sucked." Sasuke shot back in reply.

"I hate you!" I shouted over my shoulder, and then continued to walk back towards the school buildings, satisfied with that.

It was only once I was in my second class that I realized that I was still wearing his hoodie.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

Sasuke knew that nothing too weird had happened. And that was good. He hadn't felt any need to do anything with Sakura on the race track. He hadn't wanted to kiss her – that's what the whole thing might have looked like, but he just wanted to see her face.

And she still had his hoodie. Damn.

Kiba ran a tanned hand through his slightly sweaty hair after the drills that the soccer team had been put through, not by Sasuke, but by Anko-sensei: a short, hot-headed, snappy woman with epic boobs. The Uchiha had always had a hunch that there was something going on between her and his perverted math tutor, Kakashi-sensei. "Sasuke," Kiba panted, pulling Sasuke from his thoughts with a punch to the arm, "you're not even doing anything…" he seemed to whine.

Sasuke shrugged, "There's nothing _to _do."

"Did… did you even run _one _of the drills?"

"Uh, no?" Sasuke turned, bored of this conversation and eyed the girls across the field. Anko should have been taking their P.E. class today, but for some or other reason, she was teaching them. It was pretty unusual.

"You are such a bunch of lazy gremlins!" The short woman was yelling at Sasuke's team, "How you manage to win your games, I'll never know."

"We practice after school." Sasuke told her, "You know, when the heat isn't so bad."

"Ah, bunch of wimps." She muttered, "Game's over, everybody, go and get changed, all of you. And shower. You stink."

…_Charming_ _lady._

It was funny how it had been so cold earlier this morning that Sasuke had had to give Sakura his jacket but how it had heated to the point where headaches and sweat were all over the place in a mere two hours. The Uchiha rubbed the back of his head and turned to follow his boys to the changing rooms.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke had his head on his arms for the whole of the next two lessons. He knew he had hardly done any work, and that any minute now, Orochimaru would slam a book over his head or something, but he was actually kind of tired. He wanted nothing more than to just throw himself into a pool full of ice cubes and stay there forever. His black and purple t-shirt was sticking to his back, and he doubted his hair looked any better.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Sakura asked from across the desk where she sat with a dark grey laptop in front of her. Her dark pink eyebrows were furrowed in concern.

The Uchiha stared at her for a long moment before allowing the slur to leave his mouth, "I'm fine…"

"You look dead, Teme." Naruto said. "Too much work in Phys Ed?"

"…Fuck off, Dobe." Sasuke muttered, retreating to the cool blackness of his arms. "It's just flippin' hot today."

"It _is_, isn't it?" Sakura's voice commented from across the desk. "Oh! Sasuke here's your jacket, I forgot to give it back."

"Why have you got _that _bastard's jacket, Sakura-chan?" The blonde Uzumaki boy asked, jabbing a thumb in Sasuke's general direction. Sasuke sat up again, extending an arm across the table to pull the hoodie into his chest and then stuff it in his messenger bag.

"It was really cold this morning, so he leant it to me."

Naruto appeared to be stunned by this information. Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I'm not so cruel as to let the girl freeze."

"Huh." Naruto grunted thoughtfully and returned to the text book he was supposed to be reading, though all that he was really doing was drawing moustaches on the pictures of people on every page. "Strange."

"What's—?" Sakura began, but Sasuke just shook his head at her, not really wanting Naruto to explain that Uchiha Sasuke never, _ever _shared his things. Unless it was for a good reason.

And, to be honest, a freezing cold girl _was_ a good reason. Sasuke was satisfied with that.

* * *

**Sakura;**

Tonight was one of the nights that I wouldn't be hanging out at Naruto or Sasuke or my own place to work on our biology project. Tonight, I was sitting on my sofa in a pair of grey sweatpants and a soft, yellow vest-top with a mug of tea in my hand and my bright viridian eyes focussed lazily on the television. There wasn't really anything interesting on, just a couple of documentaries, the news, a shitty comedy, and— SCRUBS! I loved Scrubs.

But even with the jokes being cracked across the screen, I couldn't distract myself from the thought of a certain… Uchiha and his hoodie...

Like, any decent guy would give a chick something to keep warm. It's a FACT. But… this was _Sasuke._ I didn't believe that he was decent at all. He has been a total douche to me for two years. It's just that, lately, I'd been noticing how he was acting less like a prick and more like a real person.

Uh.

An unemotional person.

Perhaps I should stop acting so snippy with him, give him a chance to show that he's not just the same stuck up playboy anymore. He'd gone six months without playing Ino around, right? …Right?

* * *

**Notes: **I am _so _sorry that this took so long to update. Hopefully, Fanfiction stays off the crack and lets me update soon. I hope you all enjoyed this! I wrote this at least two weeks ago. Whenever the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Anyways, thank you all for the amazing reviews, such good motivation! I can't wait to read the ones for this chapter, if you would be so kind! XD Also, boys suck. PEACE!


	7. Ashley

**Notes: **I'd catch a grenade for all of you who reviewed! I'm sorry, I'm kind of a fail at review replies, so I'm going to start replying from to your inboxes. MUWAHAHAHA. There is no escape. I love Tumblr, btw; .c o m… follow for follow? (:**  
Disclaimer: **Naruto doesn't belong to me. _Ain't_ _that a bee with an itch, ain't that a mother-trucker?_

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**- Ashley ****-**

* * *

**Sasuke;**

"Why weren't you at the assembly? You're the team captain, Sasuke, it was important. Every soccer team in the school for every grade was there and you, the person that half of those kids look up to, didn't show." Why did Sasuke even bother to stay behind?

"I'm missing class," He muttered, not even raising his head to look at the sports director. He wasn't interested in what Iruka had to say. He'd caught up on what the assembly had been based around from the guys: a tournament in three weeks time and two matches this fortnight.

"Which one is more important - your sports or your academic career?" Iruka cried, frustrated that the boy before him wasn't listening. He then immediately calmed himself down and realized what he'd just said, "Don't answer that."

"Can I go now…?" The dark haired Uchiha drawled, dragging his onyx eyes up to meet that of his teacher's. There was a scar across the man's tanned and pointed nose that Naruto had hinted was from a hideous accident involving a pizza man, a lasagne truck, and a sheet of glass waiting to be glued into a shop window. Sasuke didn't even _want _to know how the lasagne truck had been involved in scarring his teacher. "The guys explained to me what the whole talk was about." The teen continued, "You need to _chill_, man."

Okay, so now he sounded like a freaking hippie. Sasuke fucking loved his life.

"You can't loose any of the upcoming games."

"How could we?" Sasuke smirked, "You've got me, the Dobe, Kiba, Teeth and Hyuuga. Then on the side, we have Shikamaru. How could we loose?"

"By being overconfident," Iruka muttered. He jerked a thumb behind him towards the faux wood door and Sasuke casually stood up and took his leave.

Man, that teacher was such a fool. Did he really think that Sasuke was being overconfident? He and his team were legendary! Since coming together in freshman year, they'd won almost every single game they'd played. What made the tan man think they'd loose any of the upcoming games? Tch…

"Sasuke-kun…" Somebody called from the end of the hallway. The Uchiha paused outside of his math classroom. "Sasuke-kun, I know you're there," The voice called again, "come here. I need help!"

Sasuke heard the tremble in the feminine voice and sighed loudly, spinning on the heel of his converse and causing it to squeak as he swept down the hall to here he'd heard the voice. It wasn't one he recognized as one of Ino's friends, but it was obviously a fan, since it used the suffix.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, his voice echoing through the empty hallway. "Who are you?" He turned the corner and glared. "The fuck do you want?" He deadpanned to the violet haired girl.

Ami eyed him as if he were a piece of meat. "I need to speak with you."

"So? Inbox me on Facebook." The Uchiha spat, whirling around once again and storming up the hallway.

What the fuck was _with _that chick.

"Sasuke-kun…"

"Sasuke!" Oh, thank fucking God. Somebody was here to save him! Sasuke looked up to find the last person he expected to be out of class during hours.

"Sakura, what are you—?"

"Sasuke-kun," Ami growled, appearing behind him, "I don't believe we were done talking." She placed a small hand onto Sasuke's forearm. He glared at her over his shoulder and shrugged the girl away from him lightly (he could never bee rough with girls. Unless it was during, ya' know, sex).

"Did you finish the assignment we had for the biology presentation today?" She asked, desperately. Sasuke thought for a moment and then nodded. He reached into his pocket and handed her the memory stick containing the PowerPoint presentation.

"It needs work." He added as she thanked him and began to walk. He wishedwishedwished she'd stay and save him from this _creature _behind him. He tried to show the pinkette with his eyes that he needed a savoir. Maybe she could put the past with all of the hatred and the fighting behind her and just _maybe_ save his ass.

On the other hand, his math room was less than ten metres away. Maybe he could just blank Ami. _Yeah. Be a dick, Uchiha._

"Uh, Sasuke?" Sakura nudged him in the chest with her finger, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't _you_?" Ami hissed at Sakura from behind Sasuke; her voice nasally and poisonous.

Sakura appeared to shrink slightly, but Sasuke decided he ought to give some input before there was a bitch fight or something, "Shouldn't… you? Ami, I have no wish to speak with you, and if you try to corner me once more, I'm going to speak with my father about a restraining order. I don't care what you want to talk to me about, I'm not interested. Go."

Erm. Okay. Sasuke was surprised at how much of a jerk he sounded, but it was the only way he was going to be rid of that chick without banging her or something. That seemed to be what she wanted. Sasuke didn't look back, but listened to the _skit, skit, skit_ of the violeteen's ballet pump shoes as they hit the grimy hallway floor as she made her way to class.

The Uchiha raised his eyebrows at the pinkette, waiting for her to either speak or leave. She chose the latter and waved shortly at him before turning and walking quickly in the direction that she had come from. Sasuke dropped the thoughts of bitch fights and girls and strolled into Kakashi's math classroom.

He wasn't surprised to see that the grey haired tutor hadn't arrived, and he surveyed the room with little interest. Karin and Temari were huddled on the desks at the back, pouring over something on their phones. Students were standing at one another's desks casually speaking to each other.

It wasn't the chaos that you see on bad cartoons. It was a classroom full of sociable teenagers minus the teacher.

The dark haired Uchiha teen stepped into the room, reaching into his _irritatingly _tight dark grey skinnies (Sasuke _loved _his skinnies. _Loved._) and pulling out his cell phone as he strode casually to the back of the room to where Neji and Suigetsu were sitting.

"Suigetsu, it's not difficult, you can work it out yourself." Neji was saying. He was probably trying to help the white haired boy with his homework which had, no doubt, been left undone until now.

"But I _can't_." The youngest of the Hozuki brothers cried, his face falling onto his text book. Neji sighed and waved a hand for Sasuke to sit. And Sasuke did sit. Right in front of his two friends and leant over the desk to hand over his own math book to the amethyst eyed sixteen year old.

Suigetsu almost _inhaled _Sasuke's book the moment it landed on the desk. "You're a life saver!"

"Hn." Sasuke smirked at the fool. It was like feeding a starving beggar, the way the teenager swiftly glanced from page to page and then to the door to check that Kakashi had not entered the room before copying out each sum. "Neji," Sasuke spoke, drawing his sick amusement away from the youngest of the Hozuki family and eyeing his cousin with a serious look, "when are the games planned for?" He questioned.

Of course, Sasuke was talking about the next two soccer games planned for this fortnight. He didn't need to worry about the tournament in the third week because there would be a full week of prep and training, along with some cheerleader watching – Suigetsu, Kiba, and Naruto's favourite part – as they prepared themselves for the games. Neji straightened, "Friday the thirtieth and Friday the seventh." He told Sasuke, "Have you organised any training or do you think we'll be alright?"

"We'll have a training session Wednesday evening." Sasuke murmured.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"I'll tell the others."

* * *

**Sakura;**

I've always loathed and hated history with a passion. Not that I'm not good at it. I score hundreds in every test! It's just that it's so boring and lessons just drag on, and on, and on… and, see? It makes _me _drag on, and on, and on.

_Urgh._

Sarutobi-sensei is an awesome teacher, though. He's a super old dude, like a lot of the teachers at Konoha High, but he's really into what he's saying. And it's probably _because _he's so old that he teaches so well. Because he can recount certain parts of modern history as he saw it.

Ino, on the other hand, was never fascinated by anything history related. Not even the old dude's war stories. She had her face planted in her yellow exercise book and was snoring lightly as I scribbled down notes as the teacher lectured.

It didn't take me long to loose concentration though, as Kakashi's math class thundered through the corridor outside and I caught a glimpse of Uchiha Sasuke's absurdly spiky hair along with Suigetsu's loudmouth voice and Karin's giggle. They were probably heading to the library to transfer their text books.

Tenten nudged me, "Neji said there's a tournament in three weeks." She murmured, "that means we get to perform our routines." She grinned manically as my face slowly portrayed horror.

Our "routines" involved me skipping around in a pair of red and white shorts and then being launched into the air by three girls shorter than me. It was not what I wanted to do in public.

"How…?" I began in a panicked whisper, "How do we do that? It takes me ages to learn dance routines and the cheer is, like, _impossible_…"

"We're just going to have to do a shit load of practice, aren't we, my little bumble-bee?" The grin never left her face. I cowered into my text book.

These girls were so _ruthless._ I hadn't even _agreed _to take the place of Ami and, to be honest, I didn't think I was good enough. I wasn't strong; I didn't have the sass needed; I wasn't confident and I most certainly wasn't the type of person to accept the proposal of being tossed into the air. Ino was supposed to do that! Dammit. What in the name of fuck would I do if I fell?

_Shit, shit, shit, don't think about that…_

"So, what have you got planned for this week during school?"

"I have work on a biology project tonight, but I guess Sasuke and Naruto are going to be training or something." I said, thinking.

"Well, whatever, I'll ask Ino to arrange something."

Without me even uttering a single word, the brunette had whipped out her white Blackberry and was texting madly on it. I glared at the lines on the paper and inwardly groaned.

* * *

It was Naruto who had to ring my doorbell first later that afternoon. He said that Sasuke would be along soon and that he just had to finish some things in school.

_As if! _A little voice called from inside my head. I batted the thoughts that were so obvious away and invited the tall, tanned blonde into my tiny kitchen. How would these boys, who lived in such fancy homes, take to the home belonging to my mom and me?

Would they judge me for its smallness? Would they comment on how old looking my TV was? Surely not… they were boys. All they would want would be food, and mom had left me enough money to order out.

"So, Sakura!" Naruto said as he plopped down cheerfully into one of the sofas in the living room whilst I seated myself on the carpet and grinned up at him, "Will you be at mine and Sasuke's game on Friday?"

I glanced up, meeting his sky-blue eyes with a frown, "Yes." I muttered, "I'm on the cheer team, aren't I?"

"I know, but I wouldn't have thought you'd be ready for a game so early in."

"The routine isn't complicated," I explained, my eyebrows knitted together. How dare _anybody _underestimate Haruno Sakura and her skills. ROAR.

"Still," Naruto shrugged. I glared for less than a second before the two of us heard the sound of feet trudging up the gravel walkway. A moment later, the doorbell rang and a soft pattern of knocking followed. I got up and skipped to the door, ready to greet the belated Uchiha.

"Sasuke, where have you been?" I smiled, stepping out of the way and allowing for him to brush past me as he strolled into the kitchen.

The Uchiha rolled onyx eyes behind dark, swishy bangs and muttered something about him having to walk here because Kiba was out with Ino.

Kiba was out with Ino! Finally, things were going the way I had wanted them to for _such _a long time. I was so happy for them!

Sasuke, on the other hand, appeared slightly bummed out. "Yeah, well…" He straightened, reaching into his messenger bag and pulling out a dark blue folder with the words,

**BIOLOGY PROJECTS**

Printed on the cover ever so neatly in thick, black sharpie, "Naruto and I can't do anymore studying this week, so we better get down to it now…"

* * *

The thing was that when Sasuke had suggested that 'we' get down to the work, he had mostly meant 'me' doing all of the work and relaying information to a notepad instead of to Naruto where the blonde was supposed to be making notes but was, instead, flicking through the channels on the TV. I glared at both of them from the corner of the room.

YES. ACTUALLY. I WAS SITTING IN THE CORNER, BECAUSE THE BOYS HAD DECIDED TO WRESTLE WITH EACH OTHER EARLIER AND THEIR FEET KEPT BUGGING ME, OKAY?

What? …Feet are weird…

Okay, back to the corner I shall go.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

The Uchiha was slightly pissed. It was okay, though – he'd managed to take most of it out on Naruto. He had thought that he was totally over the idea of Kiba and Ino being together, but the thing was… he felt slightly possessive. He wanted her back.

It wasn't because he wanted to go out with her again or that he wanted to do any of the things that they used to, it was just that she was Ino and he was Sasuke and for six months, they had been "Sasuke and Ino, they're going out, aren't they cute?"

Now they were two separate things. Sasuke. And Ino. And for the youngest of the Uchiha family, the whole thing was weird. He hadn't actually been in a relationship that long before. A relationship, for Sasuke, used to mean that he was out almost every night with one girl for two weeks getting drunk, making out, and having sex.

With Ino, it had been pretty much the same for the first two weeks. But he'd sort of enjoyed hanging out with her. Even if she was friends with a bunch of psychopaths (TentenTentenTenten) and could never shut her mouth. So he kept her. And kept her and kept her until they just became an item.

…What was he even thinking about? He didn't want Ino… he wanted Kiba to be happy, so why was this bugging him?

"You guys, Kiba's outside," Sakura said as she stepped into the living room. Huh, when had she left? He thought she was still in her corner.

"Oh!" Naruto jumped to his feet and gave Sakura a tight squeeze, "Thanks for having us, Sakura-chan. See you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, Naruto."

The Uchiha got to his feet and tugged his skinnies up (yes, he did have a belt, he just preferred not to wear it properly). He looked at Sakura for a short moment before picking up the Bio folder and nodding his thanks to her.

"Oh, and Sasuke," She called, halting him. Sasuke turned and raised an eyebrow, "Don't be mad at Kiba, you're just not used to the idea of Ino being single still."

How could she even _know _what he'd been thinking? Sasuke quickly looked away, uttering the simple, "Hn," and then calling out a thank you as he closed the kitchen door and made for the car where Naruto was already sitting up front.

Ino was in the back.

* * *

**Notes: **ASHLEY, BABY, YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO ALIVE. Yeah, I love that song. You know what else I love? American boys. Laik Brett. (L) Anyways, I'm sorry that this chapter was so short, and that nothing really happened and that my transitions suck so bad, but next chapter, we finally get to see the tension between Sasuke and Ino! :3 Reviews? We can make it to onehundred in the next couple of chapters, I bet we came.


	8. That Girl

**Notes: **GUYS, I COMPLETED AHHTSACTI! FUCK I'm so happy. Now it's time to give this one the attention it deserves. A thousand apologies for leaving my beautiful readers on such a huge cliff-hanger for so long!  
**Disclaimer: **Not mine~

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**CHAPTER EIGHT  
- That Girl -**

**Sasuke;**

The Uchiha almost stopped walking, but that would have destroyed his outwardly cool image, and so he continued to stroll forwards until he reached the Audi. He pulled the door open and was greeted by music from _his _iPod which was sitting in the dock. He raised a single dark eyebrow at it.

"You left it here." Kiba explained, noticing his curious stare.

"Oh." Sasuke responded. He slipped himself comfortably into the front passenger seat, whipping his phone out and eyeing it. He didn't dare look around. He knew that Ino was in the back seat diagonal to him and looking at her would make the whole feel of the car incredibly awkward.

The boys seemed to be pretending that she wasn't even there to avoid the taboo of hostility between them. "So, we've got that match on Friday." Kiba drawled. Naruto made some kind of excited growl sound in the back of the car.

"Yeah." Sasuke responded bluntly.

The dog lover appeared to notice the edge in Sasuke's response and tried to relax his tone, tried to be more friendly. Sasuke felt weird. He was confused. All of these weird thoughts were meshing together and forming this shield that prevented him from wanting to talk at all. He just wanted the ride to be over. From Sakura's house, it was only ten minutes. Konoha's suburbs were reasonably small and so it never took longer than twenty minutes to get from one house to another. Sasuke bit his lip. He could have just _walked_.

If he had known that Ino was going to be with Kiba he wouldn't have bothered asking for a ride. Seriously.

"So have you got a game plan?" Kiba questioned over the music.

Sasuke nodded, "Aa. Win." He replied.

"Is that it?" The tattooed teenager laughed lightly.

"Obviously, Kiba! What else do we do?" Naruto grinned.

Fuck, how could he be so easy about everything? Sasuke felt like he was trapped in a cage and that there was no way of it, and here Kiba was. Laughing and smiling. With _his _ex-girlfriend in the backseat of the car. Che.

"We'll have training after school tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday's the day of the match. That's plenty of time to plan a strategy, right? We've got Shikamaru to plan for us anyway." The Uchiha decided to explain this in his low, confident and professional tone.

It had come to him that he might have been acting like a bit of a sore loser with his one-worded, blunt answers and Kiba's sudden shining confidence, and so he'd taken the liberty of proving to the brunette and Ino that he was _fine_.

The brunette teen shot Sasuke a grin from the driver's side, "That's more like it. I'll see you tomorrow Sasuke."

"Whatever, Mutt. Later." The dark haired youngster shot back in his regular, bored tone as he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car, sliding his messenger bag over his shoulder and slamming the car door shut. He felt the car rev itself up before zooming down the quiet streets. "Tch." Sasuke spat.

He wasn't sure how he would describe the short journey other than horrifically awkward, cardboard and dull. He might have expected an apology from Ino for, oh, he didn't know, _breaking up with him over the phone without knowing the facts_ but _no…_

However, he was thankful that he didn't have to put up with the blonde girl's loud voice. He was feeling incredibly sick – the headache from the other day was surely a sign of the flu. He always got it around this time of year, in the autumn. Surely it was more a winter thing? The Uchiha inwardly groaned as he unlocked the front door to his home and let himself in.

He trudged into the kitchen and raked his fingers through the drawer that Mikoto had told him where to find painkillers last time until he found the box containing the pills. His mother strutted into the kitchen with an empty mug in her hand, "I thought I heard you." She smiled at him, leaning against the granite worktop.

Sasuke nodded to her, "Yup." He reached into a cupboard and grabbed a glass before nudging her out of the way of the sink and filling it.

Mikoto noticed the packet in his hand, "Are you feeling alright, honey?" She asked. He could hear the concern that was clear in her voice.

"Mom," Sasuke looked at her, "please." He really loathed being asked about how he felt. And even if she was asking about his health, Sasuke was most certainly in no mood to be asked about how he was feeling. His head became a total _mess_ whenever that question was asked recently.

"Hey, hey," The dark haired woman laughed softly, holding her hands up as if surrendering to invisible police, "it's not a crime to make sure my boy's doing okay, is it?"

"I'll make it one." The Uchiha grumbled, popping two pills in front of her so that she could clearly see that he wasn't suicidal. If that was what she was thinking. Ugh. His head was throbbing. Where the _fuck _were all of these migraines coming from recently?

He felt Mikoto suddenly take his face in her cool palms, "You're very pale, sweetheart."

"Am I…?" Sasuke murmured weakly, trying to focus his eyes on the glass in front of him – or was that six glasses in front of him? He felt like his brain was about to fall out of his skull. "Mom, I—" he began to protest as Mikoto grabbed his hand and held it tightly whilst rubbing his back gently, leading him through the kitchen and into the living room where she gently ordered him to sit down and breathe slowly.

He didn't even know what was going _on_. He just… _god,_ his head just _hurt so much_. What was wrong with him?

Mikoto was with him once again shortly, her arm around his shoulders as she offered his glass of water and two painkillers when she had decided that he wasn't feeling so shaky and horrible. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time his mother had looked after him like this.

Of course, Uchiha Mikoto loved her sons more than anything else in the world, and she babied them whenever she had the opportunity. But as Itachi and Sasuke had gotten older and busier, she realized that they needed their space rather than her doting and she let them be. But Sasuke, not yet a legal adult was still in her clutches and she could therefore still be a mom to him. Muwahahaha.

Sasuke listened to his mother's soft voice in his ear while he tried to get over the shock of the miniature migraine that had hit him and left so quickly. Opening his eyes hurt, moving made him feel nauseas and the Uchiha was powerless to Mikoto's mothering powers. She had curled up in the corner of the black sofa upon which they were sat and had him half-passed out against the crook of her arm and shoulder joints.

"You know, I think we should get you checked out, Sasuke. You always get these whenever you start to get sick, but Itachi doesn't." The dark haired woman murmured as she kissed her youngest son's spiky mess of dark hair.

"Is Sasuke okay?" The elder brother's voice sounded from, in Sasuke's mind, the door that led into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Mikoto murmured in a 'well-I-think-so-but-he-IS-out-cold-so-I'm-unsure' voice. "Look at him, 'Tachi, isn't he a cutie?" She cooed.

"Hn…" Sasuke growled warningly. She was totally sapping his man-points with her motherliness. He just wanted to go to his room and sleep, but he couldn't seem to find the energy to move an inch. At least he knew that the painkillers were effective.

"Okay, maybe not~" The older woman laughed lightly, Sasuke could almost picture her sweat-dropping with that tone.

"I'm fine now." Sasuke slurred, sitting up but squeezing his mother's hand gratefully as he did so. If it weren't for her, he was sure he would have passed out and smacked his head on the kitchen countertop by now. "Gonna go sleep." He said, gingerly getting up and taking the glass of water from his mom's hand as he leant down and kissed her cheek. "G'night."

"Goodnight Sasuke." Itachi and Mikoto replied in unison as the other boy managed a small, awkward smile before he made his way, exhausted, to his room on the third floor of the house. Sasuke had always been the type to get up from something bad as if it had never happened at all, conveniently ignoring his own weaknesses.

He practically fell through the door, putting the glass of water on top of his bed-side table and dropping weightily onto his bed, still clad in his skinny jeans and t-shirt.

He felt absolutely vile. He hoped this would wear off before the match on Friday. He knew his team would be fine for training under Shikamaru's tactical orders but they would essentially depend on him to play as striker for them to be executed perfectly.

And what was _with _these headaches? One in front of Sakura outside of Starbuck's and now this nervous breakdown right in front of his mother who would no doubt be asking after him for the next four years in case he developed some dreadful brain disease.

Oh. Dear. God. _What if he had?_

Sasuke (gingerly) shook the thought from his head and instead tried to take in the coolness of his room, the dimness of it was set by the twilight outside of the windows – he didn't have the strength to get up and close the curtains, but it was fine. Sasuke's favourite part of the day was twilight. The world was always calmer as the sun vanished from the sky and the stars began to appear. That was how he liked it.

He felt his phone (his new, non-smashed BlackBerry) vibrate in his pocket but ignored it. It vibrated again and he rolled his head to the side, debating whether to answer the call that the vibrations were clearly indicating. On the third buzz, Sasuke pulled the ugly mechanism from his pocket, shielding his eyes from the brightness of the screen and answering, "Yes?" in a faintly annoyed grumble.

"…_Sasuke?"_ A girl's voice sounded timidly on the other line. The Uchiha felt as if something had just caught him and was holding him in an icy grip. Shock washed over him. What was _Ino _doing phoning him? Was she still with Kiba?

…He slowly began to realize that he didn't actually care. It had shocked him that she had called, but once the surprise was gone, he somehow processed the thought that he _really didn't care_ that his ex was calling him. This was strange. For the past few days, and even earlier today, he'd been feeling totally shitty – and now…

Sasuke didn't react to the thing that had caused him to falter and instead responded as casually and curtly as he could, "Ino."

The girl sighed on the other side, _"C'mon, Sasuke… don't treat me like I'm a stranger to you."_

Sasuke moved onto his back and answered in as cold a voice as he could muster (even though his 'incident' a few minutes ago had drained him of every ounce of energy in his body and left him with a less commanding, cracked and tired articulation),"_Tch_, I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."

He smirked as she stuttered her response. Oh yeah, he still had it. _"I— I'm sorry I just… seeing you today and not even having you look at me— I know I didn't say anything to you either but…"_

"Let me ask you a question." Sasuke drawled, cutting into the girl's stammered speech, "Why are you hanging around with my best friend?"

"_I—"_

"Instead of even _texting_ me to ask if we could talk or whatever when you found out the truth about what happened with Ami, you send your friends to ask me questions like, do I want to get back with you, and you're out with my best friend the next day." The Uchiha stated, feeling his annoyance rise as he formed his words, realizing just how fucked his head was. "I don't get it."

"_Well it's not like you haven't been hanging around with _my_ best friend for the past few days!"_ Ino suddenly burst out, her cute act falling apart.

Sasuke glared at the wall, "Are you kidding?" He asked quickly, "Are you serious? You're seriously using something like that to defend yourself? It's a class project, Ino, we can hardly help the fact that we have to work together."

Ino was silent for a long time. Sasuke guessed that she had realized she'd made a wrong move and waited patiently for her to say something. _"What about Nanako, huh?"_

Oh shit.

Sasuke had expected that the girl he'd been with the other night to go around boasting that she had slept with him despite him telling her not to, but he'd never expected Ino would bring it up. Talk of Sasuke's playboy antics was strictly taboo. "What about her?" He responded coolly.

"_You _fucked_ her!"_ Ino hissed. Sasuke heard her take a deep breath – she was going to cry. Oh, great. _"Right after we broke up – I bet you didn't even think about it – about me when you got with her. I bet you didn't even—"_

"Get a grip." Sasuke muttered, totally uncomfortable with where Ino's emotional stream of words was going. He listened as she broke down at his blunt words and her own anger overflowing. He didn't really know what to do when girls got like that. He knew it was his fault, but he didn't really care.

The last time that Sasuke had talked to Ino like this, he'd felt this dull ache inside his chest and had trouble breathing. Now he just felt annoyed. He was tired of this stuff now. He wasn't _over _her – he wasn't sure anybody could get over somebody that quickly – but he was honestly just fed up of all of the confusing feelings and the bipolar attitudes towards his own friend. He had no wish to get back together with Ino – so what was the point in being hung up and feeling bad over her anymore?

Shit, Sasuke was having an epiphany.

But who did she think she was? Getting along with his best friend and then bringing _that, _which he was trying so hard to put behind him, up. He was sure that Ino had wanted to sort things out when she had called him, but the Uchiha was in no mood for any girl's bullshit or drama today. He simply couldn't handle any more stress.

In fact, Sasuke decided right then to stop thinking; thinking was the thing that had caused him the migraine downstairs. He stared blankly at the wall, waiting for Ino to pull herself together and trying to ignore her sobbing despite the fact that it was being streamed directly to his ear.

"_Sasuke-kh—"_ She faltered on the suffix that was so often associated with his name, _"… Sasuke I _love_ you!"_ The Yamanaka girl cried.

Sasuke froze momentarily before responding, "No, Ino." He murmured, "You don't."

"_I _swear_ I do!"_ The girl choked.

"You don't." He repeated; his voice uncharacteristically soft. And with that, Sasuke hit the _end call_ button on his phone and flung it to the foot of his bed, lying down and placing his head on top of his forearm. He stared at the trophy wall through the dimness of the room for what felt like forever.

Ino still hadn't answered his question. Tch, typical. But then, just as he was (although he would never admit it) inwardly fuming about this, Sakura's outburst from the other day echoed in his mind.

"_Maybe she's just hanging out with Kiba to get back at you."_

'_If that was the way she wanted to play it,'_ Sasuke smirked_, 'I'd have no trouble playing back_.' And then, with his exhaustion finally getting the better of him, he fell into a comfortably dreamless, thoughtless sleep.

* * *

**Sakura;**

When I woke up the next morning, it was clear to see that winter was on its way. The clear sky of the day before had been replaced by an ugly set of grey clouds and when I looked out of my window, I frowned at the wetness of the street under the dim, early morning light. Ew, rain.

I rolled out of bed and staggered sleepily into the bathroom down the hall. I took a quick shower to wake myself up before choosing my outfit.

Today, it would be my usual favourite light blue skinny jeans and a black tank top with narrow straps. But after taking another look at the clouds, I also chucked a grey off-the-shoulder sweater on top of that. After a small amount of deliberation, I decided to wear my baby pink Converses with this to complete my look.

It didn't take long to finish getting ready. I dried and straightened my hair and dabbed small amounts of concealer and foundation around my eyes to make me look less like I'd just woken up, along with my usual smidge of eyeliner and mascara. I've never liked wearing a lot of makeup, today was no different.

Just as I was munching on a toasted bagel in the kitchen, someone appeared, walking up the short drive and right up to the glass door. That someone was Uchiha Sasuke.

I frowned at him through the glass. He mimicked my face and I giggled before unlocking the door and letting him in from the drizzly rain. _Damn, _it was cold.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him in a hushed voice, aware that my mom was still asleep in her room upstairs.

"I thought I'd walk you to school." The Uchiha responded, raking his fingers through his damp hair and pinching the other half of my bagel from where it sat on a teal coloured plate.

I blinked at him. At first, my expression was open mouthed and shocked, but it quickly switched to suspicion, "…Why?" I asked him, eyes narrowed.

The Uchiha leant against the kitchen countertop while he munched on _my _bagel before answering, "I was up early, and the weather was cooler, nicer, so I decided to walk. I went the long way though – arrived here and saw you, so I thought I'd come get you." He answered simply.

I sweat-dropped; my eyes moving from the glistening rainwater on his heavy-looking black jacket to the slow drizzle outside as it flecked the kitchen windows, "You call _this _nice weather? Who are you, Edward Cullen?" my suspicious tone returned, "Yeah right."

"Hn," Sasuke shrugged, "what, am I not allowed to be nice to you without being questioned for it?" He asked suavely.

At this, I was slightly taken aback. So he actually _was _being nice to me? He wasn't here to gut me? He didn't want to kidnap my soul and feed it to his cat or something? That was a surprise. I dropped my guard and smiled at him, "That was nice of you, Sasuke."

The Uchiha smirked and shrugged once again. "Oh," He said after a moment of silence, "Ino called me last night."

I nodded as I placed the plate into the sink and ran some water over it to rinse it, "I believe so! She called me right after – what did you _do _to her?" I asked, faintly accusingly.

The poor Yamanaka girl had phoned me last night in hysterics, blubbering about how she had tried to be nice to Sasuke and he'd just responded in the harshest of ways. I had spent hours trying to console her. I reminded her that tension after a breakup is natural, and Sasuke is the most angst-ridden teenager I'd ever met in my life so it was normal for him to act like a prick. It was his own way of protecting himself from getting hurt.

Ugh, the more time I spent with the prick, the more I was defending him. I was becoming a bad friend to Ino. Shouldn't I have been holding him at gunpoint and demanding he take her back or something? No, I didn't need to do that – she had Kiba now. She didn't realize it, but Kiba was quickly growing on her. She'd even called him _Kiba-kun_ on the phone which had resulted in a squealing fit from me.

"I didn't _do_ anything." The Uchiha responded silkily.

I turned and frowned at him as I shoved my books into my bag for my subjects today. Math, Physics, Ethics, English and Drama. Today was going to be mentally draining. "Well you obviously did. She was a state!"

"She was saying things that she shouldn't have been."

"I know that's what it may have felt like to you, Uchiha, but you have to remember that it takes girl a hell of a lot of courage to say things like that to the boys they like…" I sighed, "I don't know why I'm even bothering to try and explain this to you. You have the emotional range of a chair."

Sasuke snorted, "A chair?"

"That's right!" I replied, shooting a smile in his direction to let him know that I was joking (I WASN'T JOKING AT ALL MUWAHAHA).

"I don't know, Sakura, chairs get a lot of ass…"

"You're disgusting!" I cried, blanching. Sasuke chuckled. I pulled myself together. He was just friggin' lucky that it was the morning and I was weak otherwise I might have given him a punch to send him fifty feet down the street. "Shall we go?"

"Aa." He murmured, pushing himself up from the countertop and brushing his fingers through his bangs again, pulling them to the side in the apparent hope that they might stay like that.

* * *

It was weird walking through the school gates with Sasuke by my side. We were talking quite normally about things just to kill the silence that threatened to settle awkwardly upon us, but the more I looked around, the more I began to realize that people were actually staring at us.

Sasuke and I _had _been together more often than usual, and I had no doubt that someone might have seen us on the track together – but seeing us walking and talking (and me laughing) together outside of school was something new to them.

"I feel watched." I muttered.

"It's because you're with me." The dark haired boy replied quietly. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

"I know," I began, "but it's _weird_. Why do they all love you so much? If you want my opinion, you're kind of scary." Sasuke chuckled.

"Hn," He smirked, "its human nature to be fascinated by attractive things, even if they're scary. Like snakes – they're often dangerous, but they're interesting to look at."

It took me a while to reply. That was so true. "That's deep." I told him.

"Yeah, well." He sighed, "Anyway, I've got a meeting with my team during homeroom period so, I'll see you later."

"Oh, okay." I replied, "…See ya." As he turned, I added a polite, "Thanks for walking me!"

"No problem." He replied, shooting an incredibly rare grin over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner. I was left to jam my key into my locker, struggling a bit until it clicked open and I was able to unload my heavier text books.

That was weird. Today was going to be very peculiar. Why the hell had Sasuke come to fetch me? And why, of all things, was he being so nice? This should now be common knowledge to you, readers… but under normal circumstances, UCHIHA SASUKE AND I WANTED TO SLIT EACH OTHER'S THROATS.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

His plan was going brilliantly so far.

Queue evil cackle.

See, what Sasuke had decided was that if Ino wanted to use his friends to get to him, he would do the same to her. He would fight fire with fire. He was, after all, an Uchiha. KATON NO JUTSU. Uhm.

He'd carefully gone through the girls that Ino was close with.

Tenten – Fuck. No. She was _scary_. And besides, Neji and Tenten were the sexually active Asians of Konoha High; there was no reason to ruin that.

Temari – She was with Shikamaru. Sasuke wasn't about to scam on his friend's girl.

Karin – Suigetsu had a crush on her – not that the white-haired goon would admit it, but it was too obvious.

Hinata – SHE WAS HIS COUSIN. How could that thought have even crossed his mind? Ew, ew, wrongness.

But then… _Sakura_. Sakura was the perfect weapon. She was Ino's closest friend. She was also new meat on the cheer team so, outwardly, if people began to notice him with her more, they'd assume he was back to being his old self and was picking up the last member of the team that he hadn't banged. It wouldn't attract much attention. Orochimaru's project was the best excuse for them getting closer, so it wouldn't seem as if he was being _too much_ of a prick.

Yes, Haruno Sakura was perfect for this. He'd just have to put up with her for a long enough time for Ino to realize what was going on. And he'd have to take this thing slowly… Sakura was smart. She might work out what was going on and then he'd be...

No doubt he'd be under the damage of Tenten's sporks. Gulp.

He wasn't really sure what the point in this was – was Ino trying to fuck up Kiba and Sasuke's friendship? Or was she just pointing out that she could do better than him? _Yeah, right…_

Either way, Sasuke wasn't about to have his own friend used against him without responding to the Yamanaka girl's challenge.

Hn.

* * *

**Notes: **The song for the name of this chapter was All Time Low's "_That Girl_" if you want to check it out; it's all like… "That girl, that girl, she's such a bitch," and I don't know if it fits the chapter but it certainly fits Sasuke's cynical plan! DAT BASTARD. Anywho, thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please, _please_ review!


	9. The Match

**Notes:** I can't even believe how many reviews this story has so early on, like, I'm actually amazed. I'M IN SHOCK YOU GUYS. HOLD ME.**  
Disclaimer:** I wish Naruto was mine. I'd be so rich. Crrrry.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE  
- The Match -  
**

**Sasuke;**

"There y'are, Teme!" Naruto's obnoxious voice yelled as the Uchiha appeared in the doorway of the semi-empty sports hall.

The infamous pineapple-headed braniac, Shikamaru, questioned, a thin eyebrow raised as the latecomer assembled with his team. "What took you so long?"

"I walked." Sasuke explained bluntly, folding his arms – with some difficulty thanks to his thick Superdry jacket which happened to cut off his blood supply despite being his size.

"I offered you a lift—" Kiba put in as the Konoha team surrounded him, awaiting a training explanation… after a bit of casual banter, of course.

Suigetsu grinned, a sharp canine sticking out as he winked at his dark haired friend, "He was with a girl. Weren't you, Sasuke?

"A girl?" The tattooed brunette blinked, "I thought you didn't want to mess around with anyone for a while…"

"He was with Sakura-chyaaan~" Naruto sang. "What's going on there, huh?"

"Nothing," Sasuke smirked, "we were just going in the same direction, tch." He rolled his head up to the ceiling, thinking out what he was going to say. He sighed, "Okay, this afternoon, tomorrow and Thursday we're going to have training sessions after school for an hour. Everybody got that?"

"Yes." The teenage males answered in unison.

"And then on Friday, it's us versus the Iwa team." The Uchiha looked around at his team, "Iruka's given me an earful for skipping the assembly the other day, so there's no way we can lose this."

Kiba snorted, "As if we'd lose to Iwa."

Sasuke glanced at him shortly, not responding at all to his comment even though the boys around them were all agreeing loudly. The brunette high-fived the blonde Uzumaki and then realized that Sasuke's dark eyes were locked on him.

Their eyes met, and for a moment, there was a terrible, hot tension between them. They broke eye contact once registering this and Sasuke continued with his talk to his team, "Also, we might need a striker sub."

"But you're our striker." Naruto said thickly.

Sasuke nodded, "Just in case. I've been feeling kind of shitty lately." He explained.

"Now that you mention it, you're paler than usual… which is really worrying, considering you're the genuine vampire of Konoha High anyway." Suigetsu commented, a concerned look on his face – its paleness almost matched Sasuke's so he could _barely _talk.

And that was twice in the space of an hour that Sasuke had been accused of being a vampire. He closed his eyes as he smirked.

"If you can't play, I'll substitute for you," Kiba suggested helpfully, "it'd be better to have one of us playing instead of an actual sub for striker."

Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch. Was the mutt striving to irritate him today, or? "No." The Uchiha answered, "I want you all to play your own places. Sub me if I'm not there – Shikamaru will decide who plays for me."

"So you're not going to choose yourself?" The brunette questioned.

"No." Sasuke responded.

"Why?"

"Because that's how I've decided it's going to be."

"But—"

"If you want to argue, argue with your strategist—" He nodded in Shikamaru's direction, "—who plans out your _every move_ while you're on that pitch. I'm the captain of this team, and since I've been captain of this team, Konoha have _never_ lost." Sasuke told the team. His tone was casual but there was a certain hint of I-dare-you-to-carry-on in his voice. When nobody spoke up, he opened his eyes and smirked, "I _will_ play on Friday. It's just a precaution."

"In case you're violently sick in the middle of the field." Suigetsu said logically.

Sasuke grimaced slightly but nodded none the less. "You can all get to class or whatever. Team session's over."

With that, the team turned and began to march out of the door. Sasuke followed them slowly, pretending to be interested in something on his phone when he realized that he wasn't alone. Kiba was walking beside him.

"Look, man," Kiba sighed, "I can tell that you're not comfortable with me seeing Ino."

"I don't care about Ino." The Uchiha replied.

"You say that, but you're acting like such a dick lately – you don't even want to hang around with me lately. What's up, man?"

Sasuke paused, sliding his phone into his jean pocket and turning to speak to his older friend, "Kiba, you'll have to just deal with however I'm acting around you lately. It's not personal, it's a common feeling after a breakup – or so Sakura says." He added, inwardly smirking his face off but outwardly staring blankly.

"Sakura, huh?"

"Hn." The Uchiha turned and continued his casual swagger out of the hall while Kiba followed silently, a thoughtful smile on the brunette's face.

Sasuke hoped that Kiba might mention that he had mentioned her best friend to Ino whenever word got out that Sasuke had been with her this morning – which it already seemed to have done, judging by the way that the guys had all seen him with her already.

Uchiha Sasuke was Konoha's reigning celebrity. There was nothing about him that wasn't spread around the school the moment it became a public thing. Except the things he'd mentioned to Sakura about him wanting to become a bit more straight edge with girls – they hadn't really processed that yet.

He swaggered down the short flight of steps from the building that was the sports hall and began to make his way to his first class of the day.

* * *

**Sakura;**

Ino cornered me the moment I got out of class, "You walked to school with Sasuke?" She questioned, a dark blonde eyebrow raised.

I blinked and then smiled guiltily, "Hardly, I mean, he walks pretty fast and I'm kind of short…"

"Sakura…" My blonde best friend growled lowly.

"The weirdo showed up at my house this morning," I cried, shielding myself with my ethics presentation folder, "I didn't intend or plan on going with him, I swear!"

Ino flicked her long ponytail over her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip. Uh oh. I was in for a lecture. "Sakura, you better not be planning on getting with my ex. You know what Gretchen Wieners always said, '_ex-boyfriends are just off limits to friends. That's just like, the rules of feminism!'_" I nodded.

(Ino did a rather accurate vocal impression of Gretchen Wieners. Just saying.)

"Ino, you know how Sasuke and I are. The boy's an STI waiting to be _named_." I assured her. "I have no intention of getting any closer than necessary with him. And by necessary, I mean handing him books and flash drives. Nothing more."

Ino's big, baby blue eyes looked at me for a long moment before she hugged me, "I know, my head's just so fucked." She sighed as she pulled away. "Everybody's saying different things and— I just don't know what to believe anymore, y'know?"

"Don't worry, Ino, I completely understand. But you know me, I give advice for these situations all the time – and if I can't follow my own advice, I don't see the point in me giving it at all. I will not make a move on your ex."

The blonde gave me a short smile before looking over my shoulder, her facial expression quickly falling. Two tall males loomed into sight down the hallway, their bodies silhouetted due to the fact that the only light in the corridor was produced by the doorway from which they had just entered.

And this was how Ino and I began to fall apart.

"Ino," Kiba's voice called lightly. I turned and gave her a knowing wink. Ino giggled at me before skipping to the centre of the hallway to meet the brunette… and his accomplice, a certain Uchiha. I frowned. There was no way that Sasuke wanted to be near either Sasuke or Ino from his talk with me this morning.

I mean, he hadn't said much but I gathered the general gist of it quickly enough using a translation of his tribal grunts to produce, "_Kiba's a manwhore and I don't like Ino anymore because she's a headfucker. And not in the good way either."_

I watched intensely as Ino reached up to give Kiba a hug around the neck and he squeezed her back gently. But Sasuke didn't even stop to watch, he kept walking – almost in slow motion – to me. He didn't hug me but he did come to a stop in front of me. "Hey." He smirked.

That goddamn smirk. He was up to something. "Uh, hi?" I responded unsurely, glancing behind him at Ino. She was still holding a conversation with Kiba but she gave me an utterly horrified, open mouthed glare over his shoulder. I glanced sideways at the Uchiha, "What are you playing at?" I murmured, "You know she still likes you?"

"I don't like her though." He breathed back, maintaining a casual stance.

"Sasuke." I glared.

"Hn," He smirked, a faint gleam in his eyes despite the fact that there was very little light to brighten his eyes. He took my presentation folder from my hands and looked through it slowly while saying, "So, let's have lunch."

I stuttered my response, "U-um, I actually have—"

"Come _on_, Forehead. We have cheer practice." My blonde friend growled, storming up the hallway and taking my wrist forcefully, dragging me away from the grinning Uchiha and bemused Inuzuka boy.

The moment we were out of the building, I began apologizing, "Ino, I swear, I have no idea why he just came up to me like that, I thought he and Kiba had worked something out. I have no idea why he's doing this oh my gawd I'm so sorry."

"You," Ino whirled on me, voice low but vehement, "are _so _off of my cheer squad. You're totally going behind my back and you won't even admit to it!"

"I swear that's not true!"

"I should have known – you walked to school with him because you were over at his house last night fuckin' him. Ha! That's why he was so distracted. _That's _why he was so 'tired'!" She deduced, gesticulating with her fingers as she spoke.

My mouth dropped open at that accusation, I glared. "I'm not you, Ino-Pig. I don't sleep with an attractive boy because he's pulled a smooth move on me."

"What was that, Sakura?" The blonde raged, "You're still lying to me?"

I was utterly bewildered at this whole new barrage of bullshit that Ino was unloading on me. For one thing, last night I had been watching cartoons and doing my homework until about seven when she had called me in hysterics. Second, I'D NEVER EVEN HAD SEX. WHAT THE HELL.

"I can't trust _anyone_ anymore!" The Yamanaka girl shrieked, "Forget you, Sakura! I'm so finished with this repetitive bullshit. _I told you _those teachers only assigned group projects to match-make!" I realized that Ino's baby blue eyes were filling slowly and she gave me one last filthy look before turning on her heel and attempting to storm away.

I say attempting because she didn't really get too far. She actually walked face first into Uchiha Sasuke's tall, broad form. He caught her shoulder momentarily to steady her, but then stepped quite casually past her to hand me my ethics presentation folder. He then turned to the blonde, "You shouldn't say things that aren't true, Ino." He said calmly.

"Oh, fuck off, Sasuke! Why would you expect me to believe _you_ after all of this bullshit recently?"

"Stop this, you're making a scene." He retorted harshly.

Ino's tears began to flow, she choked out loudly, "I don't _care_, Sasuke! Stop telling me what to do!"

"Ino…" I sighed, trying to get past Sasuke to do something to comfort her. It was so unlike the Barbie doll to break down, but recently, it was all she'd been doing. Sasuke gripped my arm tightly, warning me not to bother.

Luckily, Kiba appeared, and not a moment too soon. He caught Ino by the shoulder and pulled her into a hug where his arms shielded her tearful face from the world. I noticed her slim, manicured fingers grip his jacket tightly while she sobbed from the mental effort it had taken to restrain them for so long.

She wasn't an incredibly strong girl; Ino was a brat – and she admitted to it. She was wealthy and usually got whatever she wanted, and so it was rare for her ever to be upset about anything. But that's what everybody loved her about her – the fact that she was so happy. She loved her life and didn't regret anything that she did.

But this little girl curled up in the tattooed Inuzuka boy's arms was someone else; someone who'd been fighting too long to get what she wanted but despite this, still couldn't have it; a little girl who had broken her toy one-too-many a time for it to be replaced. All she had was the brunette teen for support.

Sasuke and Kiba made eye contact, "Sasuke," The brunette muttered, "I'll look after her."

"Right." The Uchiha responded. He glanced down and released my arm from his sharp grip as the two of them marched off on their own, Kiba basically growling at anybody who dared to look at the school's Barbie in her messy state.

I turned on Sasuke, not really caring that there were students walking by and twigging onto our conversation, "What the hell have you done?" I cried.

I realized that I was shaking. Being confronted by Ino was a dangerous moment in anyone's life, I was lucky to have survived it, even if she was accusing me wrongly of things I'd never even done. I supposed I could understand it once I actually sat down and thought about it, girls got jealous and became illogical, it was natural. But at this moment, I was absolutely horrified. My best friend had just screamed at me in front of everyone.

…And kicked me off her cheer squad, but I didn't really care about that.

But she had been so _angry._ She had made stuff up in her head and wasn't concentrating on the real facts. I was completely confused. I had no idea what to do.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at me, a picture of innocence, "I was only talking to you; it's Ino who's lost the plot."

"You were planning this! You wanted me and her to fight." I accused, storming away from him, back into the building we had just walked out of and up a flight of stairs. I didn't know where I was going – I couldn't go to the lunch hall; the girls would all be there comforting the Yamanaka girl. By now, they'd all probably hate me.

"Oi, Sakura," Sasuke's commanding voice called. It was surprisingly close, which meant that he had followed me. I turned to give him a huge what-the-fuck-do-you-want glare. He continued to walk with his hands in his skinny jean pockets, quite slowly and casually towards me, "Calm down." He told me.

I almost bit his head off. I swear.

'_DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN I AM CALM THANK YOU VERY MUCH.' _My inner self raged, shaking her fist.

I didn't say anything. I just watched him walk towards me. He was weirdly calm, like always, but he was _weirdly _calm. His face gave nothing away as he stepped closer to me, arriving and stopping directly in front of me, his black Converses facing my pink ones. His hands were in his pockets but I felt like he had me circled. Like I was trapped being this close to him and stepping backwards at all would be dangerous in case I fell into a bottomless pit or something.

The Uchiha took his dark, dark eyes off of me for a minute, glancing at the classroom door beside us. He slowly took a hand out of his pocket and tugged on the handle of it. It clicked open lightly and opened. The room was void of any life forms, just a pulsing blue light from the computer on the teacher's desk in the corner. Sasuke beckoned me silently in, taking a seat in one of the dark blue plastic chairs and motioning for me to do the same.

Behind me, the door clicked shut.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

Sasuke had not expected that. He knew that Ino was crazy but shit-fuck! He did not expect her to turn on her best friend like that. Sasuke had been faintly shocked as he and Kiba had turned the corner to find the blonde Yamanaka girl screaming at her pink haired friend about ridiculous things, and so – while he would have had no problem watching a bitch fight (m e o w) – he had decided to step in.

The dark haired Uchiha teen knew full well that Sakura could take care of herself; he'd been in school with her his whole life and knew that she was a black belt in judo. And that was not something to fuck with. So even if Ino had gotten madly pissed off and _had _begun cheerleader-slapping the pink haired girl, Sakura wouldn't have had a problem defending herself.

EVEN SO. Sasuke had _still_ felt the need to step in. Because he knew he'd made a mistake in pissing Ino off that much and Sakura didn't deserve any of the abuse that the Yamanaka girl was shouting at her.

Even if she had been a total bitch to him since they'd started high school.

Hn.

Just guessed he was a hero~

Now, in the dark classroom with only the natural daylight from outside to brighten the place up, he and Sakura sat either side of a desk with their faces in their hands, feeling both appalled and weird. Sasuke felt weird that he'd even bothered trying to help Sakura and Sakura just seemed to feel weird because it was him.

And to be honest, Sasuke was now losing sense of his entire plan. Dude. Not cool. Seriously.

But then something struck him. His unusual act of walking with Sakura to school along with the much more recent act of coming with her to… well… make sure she was okay… could have been ways of him getting closer to her.

If she trusted him, she'd be easier to hang out with, she'd be less suspicious of him all the time and he could prove to her that he wasn't as much of a jerk as she had always thought he was. Fuck knew why he wanted to prove that, but… well, that was how the thoughts arranged themselves in his head.

The Uchiha leant back in his seat and crossed his arms. He gave Sakura a long look until she realized that she was being watched and she glanced back. "Are you okay?" He asked her, cringing at the gentleness of his own voice.

"I—yeah, I'm fine…" Sakura answered, at first unsurely and then a lot more forcefully, "I'm fine."

The Uchiha frowned at this, "Jeez, you don't have to treat me like we still hate each other, Sakura." He murmured, inwardly smirking. Oh he was such a charmer…

"What do you mean?" The pinkette questioned, an eyebrow raised suspiciously. She didn't even give him space to answer before she started ranting comically. Sasuke listened intently to her words, his dark eyes projecting sympathy as she appeared to become more and more confused. "I don't get you, Sasuke! One minute, we hate each other. The next, we're fine. After that, we're reasonably able to handle each other as classmates – but now… you're walking me to school? And following me when I'm like this— what's going on? I don't… I DON'T LIKE CHANGE."

Sasuke sat up, so as not to seem so uncaring. "Listen," He said in a silky voice, "it's not my fault if I want to look after a friend." He murmured, making sure to put a faint emphasis on 'look after' and 'friend'.

The playboy charm was still in him. He knew this from the pinkette's slow way of sitting up and the faint pink tint on her cheeks. But he wasn't going to do any more than this today. He knew he had to take it slowly.

"I'm sorry for you and Ino falling out," He said in his normal tone as he leant back again, "I had no intension of that happening. And if the girls are all… weird… bitchy… whatever… I've got no problem with you hanging out with me and the guys."

"…Thanks." Sakura replied after a short moment of her staring at him – what was _with_ her eyes? They were _insanely green._ "I'll probably just join Hinata on the winter dance committee though, she won't get involved with the drama." She laughed, "It's really embarrassing for you to be in the middle of all of this, right?"

Sasuke frowned, watching as the pink haired girl giggled nervously, her bright eyes closed and a finger against her cheek to point out her embarrassment or… did she feel awkward, still? The dark haired boy smirked, "Hn, actually it's pretty regular now. There's nothing I can do to stop girls from behaving the way they do, so." He shrugged.

"I can't believe Ino thought that I would have sex with _you._"

"Oh, I'm not offended by that at all. Or the walking STI comments." Sasuke muttered sarcastically. Sakura laughed.

"I'm sorry, but with your reputation…" She shrugged her shoulders, lips pursed together awkwardly and eyes locked on the ceiling guiltily. "…You can hardly blame me."

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort but then closed it and chewed on his lip, amusement threatening to pull it into a grin or a smirk – his brain hadn't decided which one yet.

* * *

**Sakura;**

Sasuke and I stayed in that empty classroom until lunch break was over and we separated for our regular classes. I was finding it difficult to concentrate. For one, my mood had been brought down by Ino's outburst but on the other hand, a certain Uchiha wouldn't get off my mind.

I hadn't expected him to talk to me in school. I mean, why would he? He was Uchiha Sasuke, the lord and ruler of Konoha High and I was just the one who hung out with the cheerleaders because they had been my good friends since middle school. I wasn't teen royalty like they were – I wasn't even in the same league!

They had turned on their education for a rung on the social ladder (aka becoming cheerleaders aka queens of the school aka cooler than me aka _my life sucks_) while I continued to study rather than attend social events (aka parties aka DEATH PITS OF SEXUAL HARRASSMENT). However, they all still loved me (until now, I mean.) and so they allowed me to tag along with their group. None of them were the type to push another person out of the group like in most schools and friendship groups. They were all nice, kind girls.

But not one of them had texted me to see how I was or asked what had happened… maybe they just hadn't found out – Kiba said he would take care of Ino during lunch and she wouldn't be seen dead looking as bad a state as she had in front of her friends. Maybe Ino hadn't told them. I hoped that this was true.

I went home by myself, thank goodness (I think seeing Sasuke again might have given me a headache) and spent the evening trying to distract myself…. homework, television, video games – anything. Eventually, I turned to music.

My style demonstrates normal teenage girl in time with fashion and being cute. My music taste mimicked this – I listened to pop music, just like Ino and everyone else did. But while I was cruising YouTube, something (a spiky haired, pale faced something with a guitar) appeared in my mind. I decided to listen to that song he'd played at his place the other day – the magician's daughter or whatever it was.

When 'the magician's daughter' didn't appear in my search, I clicked the first thing that did. – 'The Mortician's Daughter' _ohhhh – _and began to listen to it. It was so beautiful – Sasuke had played it incredibly accurately, which most guys couldn't really do. Most guys boasted that they were ace at guitar but couldn't play shit. Sasuke could though. Sasuke was great.

EW, WHAT? _NO_. My best friend hated me because of that walking _clap trap_.

But, it was okay to compliment the fact that he was good at guitar, right? And singing too. But he had a nice voice anyway.

…

OKAY BACK TO THE POP MUSIC FML.

Stupid Uchiha.

This is what happened when he decided to be nice to me. I decided to think nicely of him. That wasn't cool. He'd hurt _all _of my friends – made them cry terribly and left them feeling used. And he'd fucked up mine and Ino's friendship. He did _not _deserve my nice thoughts. Shut up brain.

My phone vibrated on the coffee table, pulling me from my thoughts and causing me to jump about a foot in the air. I glared at it. My mom looked at me strangely but I ignored her as I reached slowly for the small device. It was flashing, indicating the fact that I had just received a BBM. Yeah. Fuck the BlackBerry hype. I had a BBM from Uchiha Sasuke.

**Sasuke.  
**_I'm sick. Come to mine after school tomorrow._

**Sakura  
**_Why would I do that if you're sick?_

**Sasuke.  
**_Because I walked you to school this morning. And because I had an idea for that Biology project._

**Sakura  
**_…YOU DECIDED TO WALK ME TO SCHOOL IN CASE YOU FORGOT.  
Also, what idea?_

**Sasuke.  
**_Come over and you'll find out. Ha._

**Sakura  
**_I don't like the sound of that "ha" but whatever I'll go… as long as you promise not to make me sick._

**Sasuke.  
**_Hn._

**Sakura  
**_Hiss._

**Sasuke.  
**_See you tomorrow._

I stared at my phone, feeling strangely giddy. Oh no, this couldn't be good. The only time I'd ever been this giddy before was that one time I thought this _gorgeous_ Zac Efron look-alike was going to speak to me – but he wanted to hit on Ino instead. Ugh. He _did _smile at me though, so who can blame me?

But that invitation was creepy as hell and our conversation looked incredibly provocative—

OH NO SAKURA DON'T THINK LIKE THAT OH DEAR GOD.

'_Think like that, Sakura, you know you want to. Remember how he was in middle school? Remember how you loooooved him?'_

I mentally punched my inner in the face, closing the conversation with Sasuke and setting my phone back down, commenting loudly about the TV show my mom and I were watching to motivate her to talk to me and help me distract myself.

This was a weird day.

A weird, weird day.

* * *

**Notes: **Oh ho. What's going to happen now? I wonder… Thank you, as always, for reading and for the reviews! I literally can't believe the numbers on this thing omg. The song for this was Asking Alexandria's "The Match" just because I was listening to it when I started writing this. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and you're all looking forward to what's going to happen next. n.n Please review!


	10. Good Girls, Bad Guys

**Notes:** Ronnie Radke. MY BODY IS READY.**  
Disclaimer:** I wish I could write funny disclaimers but I'm lame and therefore I cannot, so I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**TEN  
- Good Girls, Bad Guys -**

**Sakura;**

My day was pretty normal, other than the fact that I avoided all of my friends excluding Hinata because she wasn't evil or hateful and the little pixie girl had a way of making me feel better even though she didn't say much.

"Maybe Ino just needs some time to calm down… you know how she— how she gets about… well… Sasuke…" She said softly.

We were sitting in our usual seats for English. The task had been set for us, in pairs, to match little pieces of paper up. Stupid task if you ask me, teachers truly have no idea how _dangerous_ it is. I mean, imagine if you were to get a paper cut. It could get infected and then your whole finger could swell up and turn purple and fall off. _DANGEROUS_, I tell you. None the less, we had completed it a short while ago in silence. Hinata must have noticed that I was still feeling bad because I wasn't talking to her about something or other – and I was a chatty person.

"Yeah," I nodded in response, "I do know how she gets – I just wish she'd thought for a minute about what she was saying." I sighed, putting my head in my hands, "Hinata, I'm mortified at some of the stuff she was shouting, really. What if someone heard it and believed it?"

"Wh-what was she saying?"

"She was just being so illogical. Nothing made sense. She was accusing me of…" I gave Hinata a weird look, "…with Uchiha."

The dark haired girl blinked disbelievingly. I nodded. We both sighed. "Well, that's Ino for you…" Hinata murmured. She smiled brightly, a trait that I recognized to be incredibly familiar on a certain young blonde man. Cackle. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, you and Ino have been friends for such a long time. She wouldn't throw that away over a boy… she just needs time."

I nodded once, "You're right," and then I returned the bright grin, "thank you Hina-chan~"

* * *

**Sasuke;**

WHY WOULDN'T THIS MOTHERFUCKER DIE?

Sasuke was glaring at his tv screen murderously with his X-Box controller in his hands and his fingers moving faster than anything to create a combination that might actually work on the fucking dragon. God. Who the fuck decided that dragons could breathe poison anyway? _POISON ISN'T EVEN A DRAGON TRAIT. FIRE IS. FIRE._

He hadn't gone to school today. He was feeling pretty shitty the night before and had decided he'd just try to get better quickly or at least improve his health before the match with Iwa tomorrow. He'd left instructions with Shikamaru for team training this evening, although he was worried that the lazy git mightn't actually bother reading them.

When he'd woken up the next morning, his throat was making his words catch in his throat and his voice was hoarse, not to mention the pulsing ache at the back of his brain. He probably shouldn't have been playing video games with a headache, but he was going out of his mind with boredom and he'd taken some painkiller when he'd woken up so it was all good.

He was still unsure as to why he had told Sakura to come over yesterday. Like, Ino had gotten pissed off quicker than he'd expected from only one little stunt – so he didn't really _need _to see her but… after messing things up for her the other day, he felt like he had to make sure she was okay.

No, not make sure that she was okay, just…

To get her sick.

Ha.

But the thought of Haruno Sakura coming to his house after school in the – he glanced out of the window, yep, still raining – gloomy weather expecting to find some kind of furthered work on their project caused Sasuke to finally open his laptop and search for something they hadn't already got so that his excuse would be valid. This task turned out to be surprisingly difficult; they had been pretty thorough with all of their work so far…

What was something people actually wanted to know about?

What was something that teenagers found interesting involving drugs and alcohol…? Only the feelings they gave, he supposed. Maybe they could discuss these. The presentation would be shown to the class anyway, right? Sasuke was sure they'd find some morbid points a little more interesting than the usual demonstration of a physical breakdown of an organ.

He frowned thoughtfully, tapping the keyboard with one of his fingers while he thought. Orochimaru wouldn't really care how morbid the facts were. Sasuke shuddered uncharacteristically as the memory of his younger self sitting in Orochimaru's biology classroom during a detention and watching the creep slice open a tray of dead snakes for a dissection class with a maniacal smile across his wide face. _That_ was a memory that haunted him in his sleep, man.

The Uchiha shrugged and continued to build up a profile of bullet-pointed facts and links that lead to YouTube videos with visual explanations.

He was a good fuckin' student.

* * *

**Sakura;**

I trekked to Sasuke's straight after school, stopping by Starbucks to pick up a vanilla latte to put me in a better mood and then continuing the last portion of the walk into the quiet, private sector for the wealthier Konoha citizens.

I greeted Mikoto with my usual cheeriness because she was my absolute _favourite _woman ever and no matter how much I disliked Sasuke in the past, she never failed to greet me cheerfully whenever she saw me. Not only that, but she cooked the _best _food. It was almost on par with Uzumaki Kushina's food, actually, but that woman was just a demon when it came to the kitchen.

"Sakura!" She smiled as she opened the door. She grabbed my wrist and tugged me out of the cold, "Don't tell me that Sasuke made you _walk _all the way here?"

"…Mom…" Sasuke whined from the foot of the stairs, a faintly offended look etched across his face.

I giggled and shook my head, "I was coming straight from school," I explained, "so it wasn't that bad."

"Aw, sweetheart—" The dark haired woman cooed, pulling me against her and nuzzling me in an adoring way. I gave Sasuke a 'help. me. now.' look and he bluntly marched forward, his cool hand grabbing my wrist and dragging me comically up the stairs

"Alright, Sakura, let's go before my mother tries to breed you." He muttered.

"Oh, you'll do that yourself." Mikoto winked, a sneaky smirk on her face.

Sasuke and I looked at each other and shuddered.

"Ew."

"As if!"

And with that, we quickly escaped her evil taunts and winking and smirking and giggling. Sasuke closed his door behind him, one of his fingers sliding into the belt hook on the back of his black skinnies – seriously, did he own anything other than skinny jeans? – and hitching them up a bit. He was also wearing a faded grey varsity shirt with three quarter length black sleeves. He always dressed so casually and yet he still a_lways _looked good. Unfair. Unfair. Unfair.

He cleared his throat and jabbed a thumb behind him, "She's…" he trailed off, a puzzled look on his face as he searched for a word.

"Mikoto." I finished, "I know," I giggled, "don't worry about it."

Sasuke nodded and smirked. "So… I was thinking," He said, walking over to his laptop and the spread of papers on the floor, "for this project, we should try to make it interesting. You know how the teachers always say that you learn better from your peers?"

"Yup," I replied, coming to sit beside him and look at the notes he'd made – at least he hadn't spent the whole day playing video games and he'd actually done some work. That was surprising. But then again, Sasuke was a straight-A student.

"And teens our age – we learn the same shit over and over. It gets boring, right?"

"Right…"

"So I thought we could put in some really graphic facts or a description of an overdose victim, how to deal with it – whatever."

I looked at his notes, nodding. His handwriting was so much nicer than it had been in middle school. It was all tall and printed lightly into the lined paper. "And you did all of this research?"

"Aa. Orochimaru would be pleased." He smirked.

"And… you asked me to trek the whole way to your house in the rain to tell me this."

"Yeah."

"Couldn't you have just messaged me about it?"

Sasuke gave me a look. It wasn't particularly full of expression but it was a look. I gave him a look back, waiting for him to give me an answer but all that came was a navy covered pillow that slammed straight into my face. I glared for a long moment, not reacting.

AND THEN I ATTACKED. The pillow smacked into the side of Sasuke's spiky head but, besides a slight twitch, he didn't react either.

We were on level ground. We glared full on at each other, slowly sliding off either side of the bed and picking up our weapons.

"Oh, Sakura, that was a mistake," Sasuke warned me lowly, spinning a pillow in one of his hands.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you forget that I am the _queen _of pillow fighting."

"Come at me."

"You're asking for it, Uchiha!"

Sasuke and I flew at each other from either side of the room, meeting right in the centre between the foot of the bed and his bedroom door and thumping our pillows into each other. I probably shouldn't have been trying to kill Sasuke while he was sick but he was HARDLY being kind back. I got a truthfully painful whack in the face and smashed my pillow over the top of Sasuke's head in revenge.

I pivoted out of the way of another swooping attack from him and breathlessly laughing, tripped over my own foot, falling quite comfortably onto his large, squishy bed asking for mercy as Sasuke stood over me with both of our pillows in either one of his hands, a wicked smirk on his face tilted it and raised an eyebrow, "You lose." He told me as he slammed them down on either side of my face. I shrieked for a second, squeezing my eyes shut and giggling while his evil little chuckle sounded in my ears.

I opened my bright eyes and found that Sasuke's dark onyx ones were gazing down into mine. The grin on his face faded slightly, as did the smile on mine as we stared at each other. He was supporting himself with his hands still attached to the pillows he'd dropped either side of me and so I was caged beneath his form. I bit my lip, not really sure what to do now.

There was that awkward tension now, the one that you always feel when you watch a movie and the two characters—

GYAH. I WAS SO NOT ABOUT TO KISS UCHIHA SASUKE. NO WAY.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

When he was little, his older brother had told him that impulsiveness would be the death of him.

But he he'd never really paid attention to the words.

So Sasuke kissed her. He dropped his head, closing the short distance between their faces and hiding their faces with his bangs as they fell forward at the angle, grazing her nose with his as his lips descended upon hers in a gentle caress.

And… a moment later, she responded to him. For a moment, they just shared this slow, intimate moment and everything was quiet and the whole world stopped. Sasuke drew back just the tiniest amount, his infamously onyx eyes flickering open behind a set of long, dark eyelashes that most girls would kill for. So did hers. They looked at each other for a short moment and then realized what they'd just done.

Sasuke pulled himself up, "So, about that project…" he muttered awkwardly, turning away and rubbing the back of his neck not completely sure of what he'd just done.

"Wait a minute, Sasuke." Sakura murmured, sitting up and brushing her hair back with her fingers, "You've been acting weirdly recently and I… I don't get what's going on – I don't know _what _that just was but I don't trust it. You and I have never been on good terms ever since you started at Konoha High but… recently you're…" She trailed off as he turned to face her, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted slightly to one side.

"What?"

"Well you're… like you were before when we were younger."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow.

His mind flashed back to the smaller, yellow building that was their middle school. Memories of him and Naruto as twelve year olds – always competing, constantly challenging each other in everything they did; memories of his social status growing by the time he turned fourteen – surrounded by idolizing girls and good friends, ones he'd kept up until this very day; and the memory of this pink haired girl with a red ribbon in her much longer hair confessing her 'love' for him on their last day. He'd acted coldly, despite himself, Naruto and Sakura creating a close friendship group throughout their time in that school. She seemed to think that the ego had gotten the better of him when really he just hadn't wanted to taint their friendship with the complications of anything else. He'd _wanted_ her to be mad at him so that she'd get over him and they could just be friends.

When they'd come to high school in the fall, Naruto and Sasuke split off from Sakura. She stayed with her girlfriend and he stayed with his boys, but the tension had grown between them as he began to go out with girl after girl until he wasn't even dating them – just sleeping with them. Sakura had hated that; he'd been with her friends but he'd just rejected her. He had no problem hurting her friends with his antics but he'd never even talk to her.

That was the way things worked when the time came to change schools, though. Right? People change, friendships change. She should have expected that. She shouldn't have counted on them staying friends after she'd explained her feelings for him and him not being able to return them.

But now… he'd done something he shouldn't have. He shouldn't have kissed her – why did he do that? They were attacking each other and then… what. The hell. How did that even happen? Seriously. _Seriously._

"You were so good to me when we were young. It was only a couple of years ago that we got out of middle school but I'm sure you remember. Remember when we went for that walk in the forest? We called it the Forest of Death, right? And Naruto wandered off and it got dark and I got scared and you looked after me."

"Hn," Sasuke smirked, shutting his eyes in amusement.

"And that time Naruto chased that film actress and we had to go after him and you managed to score a photo with her and the rest of us?"

"Yes."

"And when you and Naruto and I camped out with Itachi because your uncle was in town and you two hated him."

"That was an interesting night."

"I mean – you and me were always together, weren't we? Then high school came and everything changed. We started to hate each other. It's been so long since I've been able to sit in a room with you and not feel like you're purposely trying to get on my nerves or be uncomfortable around you. I know that this biology project's been the reason for us getting closer – but what's with you all of a sudden?"

_You are so annoying._

"How do you mean? Specifically, what's new?"

"Our talk on the track – you opened up to me for the first time in years. That was the most unexpected thing. After that… everything!" She cracked, pulling her knees up and placing her chin on them and pouting. "And now this."

"Sakura, sometimes these things just happen and you can't explain them." Sasuke told her, genuinely feeling bad that he'd made her so confused. Haruno Sakura was the smartest girl he'd ever met, he was willing to admit that. But now, he was messing with her head. He'd drop this vendetta with Ino and Kiba—

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Well, speak of the devil!

"Talk." Sasuke answered to the call.

"_Sasuke, I need to ask you something. It's important."_ Kiba's voice sounded in his ear. The Uchiha picked up on the tone – he sounded apprehensive.

"Ask it then." The dark haired teen muttered, his eyes directed at the floor but he could have sworn he could feel Sakura's eyes on him. When he looked up, she looked away. He looked back down. What the fuck.

"…_Well…"_ There was a pause, _"You know the party tomorrow…?"_

"Party?"

"_The one Karin's throwing… like she does after every game..." _The voice on the other line hinted.

Sasuke blinked, "Oh."

"_Yeah, well, anyway. Would you be pissed if I went with Ino?"_

Oh okay fuck you then. Sasuke shot a glance at Sakura who raised an eyebrow, "Oh, not at all." He replied in a light tone, "You know, I think I'll bring Sakura along."

"What?" Sakura seethed. Sasuke gave her a rare grin and waved in a sarcastic, fake and cheery way. The pink haired girl stared at him in disbelief.

"_Sakura? I thought you two hated each other." _

"Nah. We're cool." Sasuke answered.

"_Oh… well… that's good."_ Sasuke heard the brunette sound relieved. He wanted to ask what it was with his tone, but he didn't. He was sure it would have ended up in some kind of manly argument.

Because arguments were for girls.

"Yeah."

"_All right, Uchiha. Guess I'll see you tomorrow – you'd better be here."_

"_Bite me_. Later." Sasuke ended the call.

He felt weird. He felt like something was going horrifically wrong in his plan to get back at Ino for turning his best friend into the object of his break-up hatred at her. He had planned to get closer to Sakura anyway, since this was crucial but… dear god everything was happening too fast. And what. WHAT. Had possessed him to pull a move on her like that? She would definitely be wary of him now. God damn.

Aah, but Kiba had given him another chance for sabotage… Karin's party. The girl lived in a fairly small apartment with a group of other teenagers. She threw parties often, and the girls she lived with were just as wild as she was and always opened their rooms for her. Their floor became a party zone packed with teens from all over Konoha whenever a game was won by the Konoha soccer team. It never failed to impress and even the landlady handed out funds for clean ups afterwards.

Honestly, Sasuke was amazed that the place hadn't been shut down for being some sort of illegal drug den. Because that's what it became on these nights.

"So, Sakura." Sasuke smirked.

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not, Sasuke."

"Sakura."

"Sasuke. Come on, you know I can't be seen with you – you _know _what it'd do to Ino… she'd be there, of course. None of my friends will want to see me at that party, Sasuke, I can't go." She whined desperately, a forlorn look on her face and her big eyes downcast.

"You can be seen with me because Ino's going to be fucked out of her head – like always – and sitting on Kiba's lap the whole damn night."

"But I don't like parties."

"Neither do I but... Sakura," Sasuke couldn't believe he was sinking this low, dragging his face from the palms of his hands to give her a deplorably beseeching look. "I can't go to that party without you," He told her (and he was maybe sort of kind of half truthful) "when my ex is going to be there with my friend."

The rosette haired girl's eyes widened a tiny proportion – if that were even possible. Who _seriously _had such big eyes? – and her small mouth opened a fraction, as if she were about to say something, but then she closed it.

Sasuke decided that she was contemplating whether to agree now. He wasn't using the fact that she easily pitied people to his advantage, honestly. He just… okay, admittedly, he really fucking needed her to help him out because – even though there were going to be tons of other girls there tomorrow night, he had promised himself not to go back to his old ways. And it would piss Ino off. And…

He'd never even seen this chick at a social event. She needed to loosen up, obviously. He frowned at her – what did she even look like now underneath her skinny jeans and hoodies? He wasn't even thinking that in a perverse way. He genuinely couldn't imagine Haruno Sakura in a dress or a tank and skirt.

Sasuke waited patiently for her to answer him, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was yelling at him for being such a slut.

It kind of sounded like an Uchiha version of Alvin. From Alvin and the Chipmunks. It had that snappy chipmunk voice. '_Sasuke,' _It scolded, 'w_hat the fuck are you doing? Do you have any idea how fucked you are going to be at the end of this? Do you have any idea of the consequences of messing around with a girl like this? AND WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH KISSING GIRLS YOU'VE JUST BEATEN UP, HUH?'_

Wait, what?

'_So you're smacking this chick around the head with a pillow—'_

Oh.

'—_And then you're kissing her. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHY YOU KISSED HER YOU SON OF A BITCH?'_

Sasuke promptly began to ignore his conscience. Why the fuck did his conscience have a fucking chipmunk voice anyway? Tch. And wait. Since WHEN did he have a conscience?

Okay, today was fucking him up. Big time. What the fuck. Sasuke had lost both control and track of what was going on in what had started off as a perfectly brilliant, malicious plan of revenge. Seriously, he needed to stop thinking.

Sasuke made a decision. Fuck the plan. Just go with whatever happens. It's too late to take back the things he'd already set in motion and maybe…_ secretly_ he'd enjoyed the feeling of her lips on his.

'_You are so, so, so fucked. Good luck, Sasuke. I'm not giving you my guidance anymore. You're setting yourself up for disaster.'_

Somehow, all Sasuke could do was mentally smirk as the voice melted away.

Oh, he was _so _fucked.

But maybe he just didn't care.

His mother had told him once, when he was really small (and crying hysterically over his dead hamster, HADES THE HAMSTER OF HELL) that when unexpected things happened, they happened for a reason.

Not that Sakura had shit on Hades the Hamster of Hell. Because she didn't.

* * *

**Sakura;**

A thousand things were going through my mind since Sasuke had totally gone against my mental screams and orally assaulted me.

Firstly. ASDFGHJKL; WHAT. HAPPENED. THERE. We were just about intent on knocking each other's blocks off with the friggin' pillows and then… he… and I… and we… OH GOD THE SHAME. THE SHAME.

And then there was the horror of realizing that Sasuke had _stolen_ my mouth's virginity.

…And the fact that if Ino _ever _found out that this had happened, she would slit my throat and watch me bleed dry. That was the worst feeling. This broke every single one of Gretchen Wiener's rules of feminism. I was doomed.

Secondly. _Why did I enjoy it_? Why did I feel like everything was warm and fuzzy for a moment – _why _was I remembering dumb shit from when we were younger? Why was it so difficult to look Sasuke in the eye, right now?

Thirdly. Should I just ignore my instincts this time and go with him to the party? Because… I mean, I hated parties, but I felt so bad for Sasuke after what he had said.

I could picture him sitting in a dark corner of Karin's apartment with his knees tucked up to his chin and his arms folded around them while he watched the blonde Barbie canoodle with his best friend as a dark purple haze of depression began to swallow him whole.

I sighed reluctantly, "I'll go with you." Sasuke glanced up, but I held up a hand as if to silence him, "Don't think that I'm going to have fun. And don't think that you can just abandon me to get shit faced, either. This is a one-time thing. You'd better find yourself a new girlfriend afterwards because I'm not going to babysit you wherever you go."

…If only I'd known what kind of hideously smirking fate was lurking over those words.

* * *

**Notes: **…God. This, this was a bitch to write. SASUKE YOUR HEAD'S JUST A HUGE PILE OF CONFUSINGNESS.

Now, let me explain something super interesting to you, a little story from my past. So, my friend came over, my best friend, a guy, and we were just talking about dragons and Skyrim when all of a sudden, the bitch kisses me. After a while, we just stopped and carried on like nothing ever happened. It was the weirdest thing. I thought I'd incorporate it into the story because I LOVE MINDFUCKING SASUKE muwhahahaa.

And also – I don't decide how things turn out, okay. THIS STORY IS WRITING ITSELF. Be prepared for twists and turns that you'd never expect. Thank you all for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. The song – "Good Girls, Bad Guys" – Falling In Reverse.

Please review and let me know if you're confused so I can explain what's happening if you're lost. Because I kind of was. Ugh. Not my best. But ja. REVIEW!


	11. Weightless

**Notes:** Kind of a filler-ish chapter, but I'm building up suspense I guess for Karin's party. Also, I feel like death. Everybody hug me. This one's song is All Time Low's "Weightless" because Naruto is a funny dude.**  
Disclaimer:** Disclaimed.

* * *

**ELEVEN  
- Weightless -  
**

**Sasuke;**

This morning, he felt like death. His headache was back and Sasuke found that he was genuinely praying on his knees that the migraine of doom wouldn't strike him down again today. Today was an important day, and whether his voice and head were working properly or not – he would not miss out.

He just had to get through school and then play his match in the – he looked out of the window, appalled beyond belief to find flecks of fresh water attacking his window pane from the sky – pouring rain. God. Why was Konoha so stupidly placed in the world? Dumbass city.

He rolled out of his bed, coughing to clear his throat as he made his way through his neat closet and into the bathroom.

He had no need to flick the light on as the dull slivers from behind the clouds somehow managed to ignite the creamy-white room.

He inspected his face in the mirror with a blank expression. His dark, dark hair was mused even more than usual, his lips chapped – come to think of it, he was _really_ thirsty – and the soft skin beneath his eyes was coloured like a bruise, contrasting badly with the rest of his milky pallor. The tip of his nose was also faintly red and his eyes looked murderous.

Good fucking lord. How had Ino even dated him for so long if she knew that he was this—this—_unattractive_ in the morning? He hoped it was just because he wasn't well that his face looked like this. Because. Seriously. He was one ugly fuck if this was how he looked before he got ready.

Not that he _cared_.

He just didn't like his face right now, okay.

He sighed loudly, cringing at the way his ears made his voice sound just from the single hum that had left his throat running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to smooth its wild spikes as he made his way over to the shower box, turning the thing on and hopping out of his boxers. Maybe this would make him a little more presentable and less sick and young and vulnerable.

* * *

**Sakura;**

Sleeping had not been an easy task for me. I'd gone home a while after mine and Sasuke's discussion about what would happen today.

The party.

My doom.

Thankfully, Mikoto had offered me a lift in the rain and I was too polite to say no and so I'd gotten home without contracting any kind of cold. Although now I was worried that I might actually catch one after that incident that shall not be spoken of in his room involving his lips on mine.

Why had I agreed to this? Was I genuinely suicidal? If Ino saw me at this party with her ex while she was drunk, she'd go batshit insane and throw me down the apartment stairs. I could only _pray_ that she wouldn't.

Ugh.

I was sitting in the kitchen wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a red t-shirt, my mouth chewing brutally on my Nutella coated toast.

Because who didn't eat Nutella these days? It was the tastiest, godliest thing I'd ever sampled.

I watched my phone travel across the kitchen countertop as it vibrated with a blank expression, my eyebrows drawn together. It vibrated again. And a third time.

And then I realized it was probably because someone was calling me.

I reached for it and gasped as I turned it so that the screen was facing me. Caller ID – Ino. Her contact photo was the two of us pulling some crazy faces earlier this year in the summer. I hesitated before answering.

"H… hello?"

"SAKURA GUESS WHAT HAPPENED." The blonde's voice roared. But it wasn't the bad roar. It was the good roar that she gave off when she was yelling her cheers or just super excited about something.

I was unsure how to respond to her. The last time we'd talked, she'd been furious with me because her ex had decided to talk to me. She had decided that our friendship was over. What could possibly have happened to make her change her tune so quickly? "What—?"

I listened to the girl take a breath and then squeal slightly before breathing again. "Kiba. Asked. Me. Out." She finally said. I could hear the smile in her voice.

I blinked. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I flailed, dropping my toast onto its plate, "WHAT— INO, THAT'S SO GREAT!" I cried. And then I paused, a wary tone taking over, "Wait. What did you say?"

"I SAID YES, OBVIOUSLY."

We both squealed.

This was weird, my inner voice was telling me, she had been so dangerously angry with me before when she'd accused me wrongly of… that stuff with Sasuke the other day. And now she was calling me and we were just shrieking like we were best friends again.

Then again, when you've been friends with someone for so long, sometimes apologies aren't needed. Sometimes all it took was a smile or an awkwardly funny moment for you to be giggling with them again.

"You have to tell me everything."

"I'm going to. I'm— oh my god, Sakura. I'm so sorry for all of that stuff I said. I know none of it was true… I was just so—so mad at Sasuke. Not you. I'm sorry."

"No problem, Piggy-chan."

"So I'm going to see you in school later, okay? I'll tell you _everything_."

"Okay!" I giggle-smiled, and then froze. "Actually, I have some stuff to tell you too."

"GOD WE JUST CAN'T FIGHT EVER AGAIN BECAUSE CLEARLY TOO MUCH HAPPENS WHEN—oh, good morning daddy! –I'll see you in a bit. Ciao, Forhead!"

"See ya~" I sang.

This was definitely the best thing that had happened all week. I couldn't believe how quickly that had cheered me up. Not even the gloomy sky outside could spoil my mood right now!

* * *

**Sasuke;**

He blinked at what his brunette form had just informed him of as he'd gotten into the car with him for the ride to school. He was, to say the least, faintly dumbfounded. And so all that he could really do was to make him repeat it. "Dude. You what?" He asked in a monotonous tone.

"I asked her out but you _can't_ kill me because Naruto _forced me_ into it and he said that if I didn't do it _now_ she might get with _someone else_ at this party and I _can't_ let that happen because she might turn into a _slut_ and after you and her_ not_ being sluts if she were to get with someone else that might really mess her up and she'd become a slut so you know I think I kind of did you a _favour_ and I _know_ it's not a thing for bros to do and I'm _sorry_ but I _really_ just couldn't let that happen and— and…" The Inuzuka boy seemed to have run out of things to ramble.

Sasuke just continued to stare whilst the whiskered blonde in the back of the car cowered and the brunette shrunk against his window, face clearly anticipating a bitch fit.

"…So…" Sasuke murmured slowly, enjoying the way that the two males squirmed, "…you're going out with my ex-girlfriend."

"NARUTO FORCED ME INTO ASKING HER." Kiba quailed, throwing his hands up against the glass in a desperate urge to escape the Uchiha's expressionless face and voice that gave nothing away.

If Sasuke didn't have an apathetic persona, he was sure that he would be laughing his head off at the reactions and the quivering coming from two of his cockiest friends. The dark haired one turned his attention to the blonde, quirking an eyebrow, "Dobe…?" He drawled, expecting an answer.

Naruto opened his mouth to respond to Sasuke, but didn't. Instead, he turned to the brunette, screeching fully in dismay, "KIBA ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME _MURDERED_?"

"I'M TELLING THE TRUTH, I SWEAR." Kiba cried.

Sasuke paused. He wasn't even mad. He didn't feel anything. He looked at Kiba, the teen's voice echoing in his head from the day that Ino had had her breakdown and lost her shit with Sakura. _'Sasuke. I'll look after her.'_ …Well, he had.

It was time for Sasuke to seriously just let this one go.

He knew that it was normal for him to feel a little bit pissed off – it happened to everyone, he guessed. He knew that Kiba would understand if Sasuke wanted to punch him. But he didn't. Instead, the Uchiha was coming to the revelation that Kiba – who really did like Ino – was not his enemy.

He was his friend.

His best friend.

The one who he and Naruto had bought a car for. The one who'd let him stay at his place when he was shitfaced so that his mom wouldn't go apeshit on him. The one who'd had his back every time he'd gotten into a fight. The one who drove him, literally, _everywhere_. The one who kept him on a leash when he got drunk in case he made a mistake… Kiba was a guy that Sasuke could count on. He had done for a long time.

And… if he was really going to look after Ino, he decided to drop his vendetta against the two of them.

But if Ino was using Kiba… he wouldn't be impressed.

Sasuke became completely calm – not that either one of them would have noticed. He was outwardly calm anyway. "…No…" He murmured, closing his eyes as he admitted, "I'm surprisingly okay with this, actually."

A gulp sounded from Kiba's general direction, "You're—?"

Behind him, Naruto wasn't so trusting. He threw himself onto the floor of the back of the car, covering his head with his hands and continuing to yell, "HE'S GOING TO KILL US IN OUR SLEEP. RUN, KIBA, SAVE YOURSELF."

"Dobe."

"HAVE_ MERCY_!"

"A hint. Cowering on the floor of a car is probably the fastest way to get you killed… if I wanted to kill you."

"I—" The blonde suddenly sat up, a frown on his tanned face, "Hey, you're right."

Sasuke. Almost. Died.

How thick was this kid? _HOW _had they even become _friends_?

* * *

**Sakura;**

Ino and I skipped homeroom. We had arranged to meet in the girl's bathrooms along the corridor in which our homerooms were held, however, so as not to look too suspicious if we were caught. I pushed the door open with the sleeve of my leather jacket and peered in.

The blonde was sitting atop the window sill, her phone in her hands and a wide grin across her flawless face. Her Barbie-blonde hair was up in its usual ponytail which swished in whichever direction she moved her head. She was wearing a baby blue denim jacket and a top made out of floaty material underneath it, as well as simple black leggings. She dressed lightly whenever she had to cheer for games for quick changes.

When she noticed that I had arrived, she jumped from the window sill and leapt into my arms. We shared a long, tight hug – a wordless apology passing between us in that moment. After giggling and being silly about dumb things to break the slight tension that was still held between us, I turned on her.

"Okay, blondie, spill it."

"WELL." She began, "We were together yesterday. And the day before. And basically every day since Sasuke and I broke up because he promised to help me feel better."

"Really?"

"And I knew he liked me… and I mean… he's cute."

"Get to it, woman!"

"And I just find him really nice and super cute and just asdfghj!" I didn't actually know that it was possible to convey her feelings via keyboard spasm IN ACTUAL CONVERSATION but, somehow, she had managed it. "And we were talking about Karin's party tomorrow. And he said, 'Ino, go with me to Karin's party after the game.' And I said, 'you really want me to?' and he said, 'yeah – actually, I'd like you to go everywhere with me.'"

I gasped and awed as girls do, "That's beyond adorable."

"Wait a minute, Forehead! You haven't heard it all! So anyway, he gave me this cute little speech about how much he liked spending time with me and hanging out and we were just cuddled up on the sofa in Starbuck's, and everything was right. And he looked me in the eyes – have you _seen _his eyes? They're so gorgeous."

"They really are."

"And he said that he liked me and asked if – if I wanted to date him once I was over Sasuke."

I didn't react but waited for her to continue, a small frown on my face. I hoped she wasn't planning on using him as her rebound boy. I know that I had been the one to suggest it to her, but Kiba actually _liked _her. It would fuck him up if he were just being used to piss Sasuke off.

Ino continued, "And… you know what I thought? I thought, 'fuck Sasuke.' You know? We fucked up. There was clearly no longer any trust between us and… even though we had our cute moments… Sasuke and me just didn't share that connection like you see in movies, do you get me?"

I decided not to point out that 'connections like you see in movies' were made up to make boys feel like shit and create high expectations of non-existent males but nodded none the less. "Damn, Ino… you moved on fast." I told her.

Ino shrugged and pouted, looking over her shoulder before returning her baby-blue gaze back to me, "Well, So did Sasuke. Nanako won't shut the fuck up—"

I died.

But I had to tell her.

"That reminds me, Ino, I have to tell you something. It's… you won't like it."

She stepped forward and held my cheeks in her hands, giggling, "Oh, honey, Kiba told me."

I froze, "…Told you what…?"

"I know that Sasuke's taking you to Karin's party later. But~ I don't have a problem with it at all. I have a boyfriend now. And you… always liked Sasuke before I did."

"Uhm."

"So I don't have a problem with it. And if you and Sasuke want to get together… oh. My. God. SAKURA."

"WHAT HAVE I DONE PLEASE DON'T HURT ME."

"NO! We can _double date_."

"Stop right there, Pig. Sasuke only asked me to go with him because his friends are all going with girls and I was _there._" I sighed, "It could have been anyone. And we aren't going to date! He's… he's… _dangerous_, Ino! I'm praying for your sexual health."

"Believe it or not, he's clean."

"IRRELEVENT." I told her, folding my arms and turning to the side, "I'm not going to go out with him. I'm amazed we're even talking."

'…_And kissing. And kissing. And kissing.'_

THAT WAS ONE TIME, INNER, SHUT UP.

The bell sounded and our conversation was closed in order for us to get to lessons. And I didn't tell her. I sucked. Major ones.

* * *

By lunch time, the entire school was buzzing for the match. The rain had finally cleared up and the team seemed cheerier, their bravado could be clearly heard a couple of tables away in the cafeteria. Myself and the girls sat around our table, giving them all an unimpressed stare before turning back and continuing our conversation. The topic? Karin's party. What else? These girls were party girls.

"I'm wearing this hot purple dress." Karin announced, "It's like, light purple, and then with it, I'm wearing black stockings that go to like, here," She stood up and demonstrated a slice across her thigh before sitting back down, "and it's this perfect cross between slutty and innocent."

"I'm wearing pink – like Sakura's hair pink." Ino said.

The table collectively sighed, "Barbie."

The blonde flapped a hand as if to shoo us away from her infamous title. Temari smirked, "I'll be in dark blue." She said, "A curvy little number."

"Oh, Tema! You look hot in blue!" Tenten basically purred.

The dark blonde grinned suggestively at her, "And what about you, Tennie? What will you be in?"

"SHORTS. Fuck. Your. Dresses. You sluts."

"They'd better be slut shorts." Temari shot back. Ino laughed.

"Oh, they are." Tenten grinned, "They go waist high and make my butt look awesome. You'll see. I'll wear a white tank with it and I may or may not add some braces to it."

I smiled, "And what about your dearest Neji-kun?"

"I'll be with him, obviously."

"Hey, did you guys hear who little miss Forehead is turning up with?" Ino giggled devilishly behind her hand. I dropped my head in shame. The girls around the table peered at me curiously. "Our little Sasucakes decided to ask her."

"NO WAY!" Karin cried, her hands clasping over her chest.

"S-Sasuke asked Sakura? How-how is that possible? Th-they _hate_ each other!" Hinata put in, shock clearly written across her face.

"Hah." Temari smirked.

A small pause was held before the brunette with two buns took it. "Stop acting so surprised, we all knew this day was coming. They had way too much sexual tension between them the whole time – no offence Ino. But you know how it is with love-hate relationships. I mean, look at Karin and Sui. They're _fated._" Tenten said logically, her eyes closed and arms folded as if she was all knowing and more than powerful.

"Tenten, I will cut you." Karin muttered.

I sighed, "There is and never has been _sexual tension _between us, Tennie. He's just too much of a loser to ask anyone else and all of his friends are basically ditching him for other people. We were working on our project—"

"Yeaaaah right." The girls giggled.

"—and he just _decided _that we were going together." I felt the need to change the subject desperately. "Hina-chan's going with Naruto."

"This. Is. Too. Cute." Ino sang, pinching the dark haired girl's cheeks with every word until Hinata's cheeks were not only pink with embarrassment but also with the Barbie doll's abuse. Aw.

I smiled at my friends – it was a wonder how I had gone without them. They entertained me so much and all of them were so different which was probably the best part about it. Ino's bubbly mood had rubbed off on all of us and we were all giggling and smiling for the duration of lunch period.

The news of Ino and Kiba going out was now circulating around the school, and luckily, my girls knew how to keep secrets. There wasn't a single peep from anybody to me about Sasuke for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

His friends were fucking stupid. They were just— fuck. There was no word to describe them. They were all just complete and utter idiots and he hoped they drowned or something unpleasant.

As of this moment, they were sitting at their usual table in the lunch hall, crowded in to fit everyone, and singing.

They were singing.

Why did he talk to these people?

Like, he sang. But. But...

They were singing fucking All Time Low like a bunch of drunken gits. Sasuke just folded his arms and closed his eyes, completely unimpressed. The song was streaming through Naruto's iPod, and so the sound of it was that annoying, whiny cracking buzz that iPods made when music was played from their speakers. Goddamn.

How gay were they, seriously?

Not that Sasuke didn't like All Time Low. Jack Barakat was secretly his best friend in his head.

Just that his friends were singing a song about feeling weightless. Had they never heard of getting high? God. Seriously.

"This is kind of gay, you guys." He muttered.

"_MAYBE IT'S NOT MY WEEKEND,  
BUT IT'S GONNA BE MY YEAR." _Naruto roared, nudging him and shaking his head as if, in his world, he were actually a rock star. Sasuke silently killed himself.

He didn't think he could handle getting a headache before a game where he had to run around for ninety minutes as his brain flopped from side to side inside his head. _Oh, please silence yourselves._

And for _fuck's sake_. He had this party later too. With the one with the pink hair. That one.

He chanced a subtle glance in the general direction of the girl's table by the windows – no doubt Ino had been the one to secure it and claim it as her own. It was the table where the sunlight floated in and hung like a glorious, heavenly light and illuminated their forms. The boys had chosen a pretty average seat, not really caring. Or maybe he was overthinking it. Hn, who knew?

His eyes settled onto the rosette's head of bubblegum pink hair and her eye rolling at something that one of her friends were saying to her while the rest of the girls giggled. Huh, so she was back with her friends. Sasuke had suspected as much. Ino wouldn't leave her best friend out of something so _huge _as her getting a new boyfriend. Sakura was the very underrated character of their group, but everybody seemed to count on her.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, tell Neji about that time I walked into the dude from the Konoha Leaves. Tell him how he yelled at me until I told him I was a fan." Naruto was tugging on the Uchiha's sleeve. He rolled his eyes lazily to give the blonde a short glare before turning it to Neji.

"The dude from the Konoha Leaves yelled at him because he wasn't watching where he was going. He stopped the minute Naruto recognized him. It was boring." The Uchiha drawled.

Naruto flapped a hand at him, "No it wasn't, it was amazing! He was all 'yo kid, duh fuck you walkin' into? Are ya blind? D'ya need glasses or som'thin'? 'm walkin' here, ya dumb fuck—' and I was all like, 'HOLY SHIT YOU'RE THAT DUDE FROM THE LEAVES!' and he loved me."

"…No. He didn't."

"Bah, you didn't feel the connection. You wouldn't _know_." Naruto muttered to him moodily.

Sasuke almost slammed his head against the table – but that would have caused him a bruise or some shit, and his face was already looking rough as hell.

The bell went a short while later, signalling the end of lunch break. The boys made for the exit of the hall but were quickly swarmed by both girls and guys wishing them luck for later. They nodded and thanked and swaggered straight past.

It was then that Sasuke decided that he was kind of a rockstar.

Konoha High was his fan base – but he already knew that.

* * *

**Sakura;**

Since I had been kicked off of the cheer team, there was really no reason for me to be here. I was sitting in the changing rooms with the girls as they pulled on their school colours: the tight as hell black skirts with the red and white lines down the sides and the cropped red, black and white shirts which hemmed midway down their toned abdomens and collared around their necks with full length black, silky sleeves. The words 'KONOHA HIGH' were emblazoned across the fronts of each girl's shirt in varsity-style letters. They also wore plain white plimsolls with tiny trainer socks to show off their crazy-long, muscled legs.

There were so many of them.

And they were all so _hot_.

Seriously. All of my friends were hot. It was unfair.

So anyways, I was sitting in the changing rooms with them as they got into their uniforms and tied their hair up and coated their faces in makeup. I could already hear the crowds of people in the corridors of the sports hall – the boys probably all getting rowdy for their game and the girls who whored around them; the teachers probably telling them to get lost and randomers searching for a bathroom. I was going to be with them for support, as I always was. And to take their photographs. Because they were all gigantic camera whores.

"Wait— so, Sakura," Ino murmured to me directly as she ran a foundation-coated sponge across her flawless face and taught cheekbones, "since you're going to Karin's tonight… what are you going to wear?"

"I don't know," I shrugged.

Ino gave me a short stare, her eyes wide and pink-lipped mouth slightly agape, "You— you're going to party with Uchiha Sasuke and you haven't even chosen an outfit?"

"Ino, you know I don't do dressy—"

"I'll bring you something." She told me, pursing her lips and returning to brushing the sponge across her cheeks, lifting a pinky to sweep a misplaced contour of her eyeliner into shape. It didn't even smudge.

"You— you don't have to…" I murmured, feeling awkward.

"I'll bring you something!" She announced. "You, me and Hina. We'll all go to yours after the game and get ready. And I'll bring you something." She gave me a sideways glance, her huge blue eyes glittering with a wicked intent.

"_Don't make me into a slut Ino._" I hissed after a moment of the two of us just staring at each other – her smirking, me twitching, fear fully settling itself into my stomach.

* * *

**Notes: **I'M EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. Also, HOW ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU ENJOYING THIS STORY OHEMGEE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU ALL. Thank you so much for reviewing! And to you, who forgot your username, I agree – I really think Sasuke would sound like Jayy and Ronnie combined if he sang. It'd be. Just. Just. Omfg eargasms everywhere. Thank you for reading and please, please review!


	12. Blame It

**Notes:** I don't know anything about soccer okay. And this one's song is "Blame It" – Of Mice And Men.**  
Disclaimer:** Let's have a toast for the fact that I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**TWELVE  
- Blame It -  
**

**Sasuke;**

His shirt was the usual silky, crimson material with its black collar and vertical stripes adorned with the layered varsity-style lettering on the back labelling him as number '10' and underneath that, 'UCHIHA'. The front of the shirt was also embroidered with the same text and 'KONOHA HIGH'. The thing was loose and baggy and the sleeves cuffed closely to his thumbs, but for some reason, Sasuke was always comfortable in it. He liked the colours, too.

AND NO, HE WASN'T AN EMO, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

He was number ten; the leader. Smirk.

The shorts for the uniform were usually just plain black, but still made of that silky material. The thick socks covering his shin guards were black too with a red ring trim. His boots, though he hadn't actually yet shoved his feet into them, were black. They were his lucky boots. No judgment. He'd even replaced the black laces that had come with them with red ones to match the uniform.

Coordination is crucial when you're as fabulous as Sasuke.

ANYWAY.

He sat on the bench, back against the plain wall and legs apart as he watched uninterestedly as his own fingers hooked through the laces of each boot quite delicately, not wanting to yank them unnecessarily hard, and began to slide them on and lace up.

Most of the guys were already dressed. Neji was braiding his hair – what the _fuck_? – Naruto was scuffling with Neji for the small tub of gel that the weirdo always brought with him – again, what. The. Fuck. Shikamaru was just looking at his phone, a bored expression on his face and Suigetsu was shouting about how he needed a haircut.

Goddamn.

Why were his friends so girly?

He mentally took that back as he realized the beyond feminine way he was judging the shapes of the knots he'd made on the red cords of his shoes. And never thought of that again.

Getting to his feet, he whipped his phone out, hitting a button to light up the screen as he glanced out of the window. The sky was definitely looking clearer, that was a good sign – but the ground would still be horribly wet. And muddy. And he was still sick. And definitely about to catch the worst cold in history. Ugh.

He glanced back down at the phone screen, reading the time. It was almost a quarter to four, meaning that they had to get their asses down to the field pronto and warm up.

He sucked a breath in, puffing up his cheeks for a moment before releasing it and barking out a, "Move it jackasses, let's go."

"It's time?" Someone called from the opposite corner.

"Mm." Sasuke nodded in the voice's general direction.

Naruto wandered over to the dark haired teen, "Wow, today's going fast." He mumbled.

"Shut up and walk." Sasuke countered, dropping his hands onto the Uzumaki boy's shoulders, spinning him in the direction of the locker room door and pushing him lightly towards said target. Naruto obliged to this without much complaint, which the Uchiha was thankful for as he and his team flooded from the room, the occasional stench of crappy deodorants clogging his senses. Seriously. Had these people never heard of anything, oh, he didn't know, _pleasant_? Maybe _fruit_? _Daisies?_

Beggars, the lot of them.

They made their way onto the pitch, the crowds in the bleachers roaring with excitement at their appearance. His eyes flickered quickly through the crowds, fast enough not to make contact with anyone but slow enough for him to analyse the faces. He was kind of hoping that his dad might be here but he couldn't find the old man's stoic face anywhere.

Oh well.

His attention moved to the cheerleaders – the violet haired Ami prancing around beside Ino, as he'd expected, and the pink haired Haruno girl leaning back with her nose in a book – as he'd expected. Honestly, if she really found the games so boring, why did she bother showing up to watch? …And why did he even care?

Well – tch. Duh. He didn't.

He jogged up to the brunette sports director, Iruka who was standing beside an incredibly bored looking Shikamaru and joined his boys in a pep and warm up talk.

"Alright, guys – Sasuke, you're feeling better aren't you?" Sasuke nodded. "Good. You ready to win this, Konoha High?"

* * *

**Sakura;**

Sports weren't my thing. I came to support my team and watch my girls. Sometimes, I would get caught up in the game and occasionally allow a cheer to pass between my lips along with the rest of the spectators, but in all honesty, I found everything just… incredibly boring.

And the book I was reading wasn't even good. So now I was being forced to steer my eyes in the direction of the testosterone fuelled males as they launched towards each other in a furious but professional manner to get a hold of the lone ball. Iwa in their golden uniforms weren't doing so well. Konoha, of course, were already up by three points.

Sasuke was surprisingly good, I noticed. I mean, obviously he had to be. But I always assumed he was a selfish, steal-all-the-glory-and-never-share-the-ball kind of guy, but I witnessed him gamble his passes a few times and found that he was seriously a team player.

Even if, in the end, it was only him who scored. Naruto and Kiba's shoots seemed to fail as if there were just some kind of magnetic force pulsating from the Iwa goalie's fingertips preventing their shots from going in, but Sasuke scored perfectly every time.

Then again, he wasn't an infamous player for no reason.

Oh, _burn_.

I smiled stupidly as, beside me, Hinata giggled at the way that Naruto sprinted up and down the pitch with his shirt pulled up over his head when next Sasuke booted the ball straight past the Iwa keeper. He didn't even seem bothered that he'd scored either. He just walked with the sulkiest expression on his face back to the centre of the pitch preparing for the next kick-off. I supposed that Naruto did enough celebrating for the both of them.

"Sasuke's such a bore to watch." I commented.

Hinata giggled a little more at Naruto before turning, "What—? No, he… he's usually a little more energetic… haven't you n-noticed before?"

"No," I shook my head, "I don't usually watch at all – we always _win_. There's nothing interesting that happens in our games."

"O-oh… well… you're— right for noticing..." She said softly, her timid voice turning thoughtful, "I-I suppose he's just…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

"He hasn't been feeling well recently, I guess," I shrugged, watching him run his hands through his hair and link his fingers together at the back of his neck while Naruto took the ball easily from the Iwa player, dribbling it up the field and passing it to him. Sasuke didn't even budge. He just twisted his foot and passed it up the field to Suigetsu.

They were being so cruel. They were actually _playing_ with the Iwa team.

"Oh, they are brutal." I murmured, watching the dismayed expression fall across the Iwa goalie's face as the ball drew closer and closer. Their defenders tried frantically to scrape the ball from Suigetsu but he just pivoted and handed it to Neji, who sent it back to Naruto, who sent it back to Neji, who kicked it to Sasuke, who shot and scored.

They were now up five to nil.

There was no hope for Iwa.

And such was the fate of any team that were faced with Konoha High's finest.

The score by the end of the game was seven to one, and Sasuke and his team celebrated on the pitch. Well. The team celebrated. Sasuke and Neji kind of stood and smirked at everyone smugly. Suigetsu promptly smacked them both upside the head and yelled quite clearly for them to 'lighten up, bitches'.

Sasuke did not seem impressed.

The cheerleaders skipped onto the field, showing off their crazy moves with their red, white, and black pompoms before ending with the grand finale of Ino being thrown around and spun in the air.

I fucking thanked the world that that had not been me.

Ino was held gracefully atop the pillar of girls and stayed, statuesque, until they dropped her in levels and their tower dismantled.

My eyes flickered to Sasuke, wondering how he felt about seeing his golden girl in her trophy place at the very top of the world. He was just watching, expressionless and with his arms folded.

In the past, this would have been different. In the past, he would have been smirking his ass off and walking over to pick her up as the girls disbanded. But now, it was Kiba who was walking over to meet her in the centre of the field.

They didn't do the obnoxious kissing thing in front of everyone, though, as Sasuke and Ino had done famously in the past. She just slung her arms around his shoulders and hugged him while he squeezed her with his arms around her waist. She didn't even look back to see what Sasuke was doing.

I really, really hoped that she was going to actually be serious with Kiba. Because, looking at them, in their chaste hug, I thought it would work.

Tenten had leapt onto Neji's back already and Karin was standing with her hand on her hip in front of Suigetsu, flicking her red hair over her shoulder and shrugging as if she was complimenting him but didn't have the balls to drop her pride and do it nicely. That was just Karin, though. She was stupidly arrogant when it came to Suigetsu. Obviously because there was so much sexual frustration between them and they weren't really sure of how to unleash it.

Temari and Shikamaru were already marching back to the changing rooms, their forms moving slowly suggesting that, as was usual for Shikamaru, they were in no hurry, but they kind of did want to get out of the cold.

Naruto dragged Sasuke towards Hinata and I. I realized just how filthy the both of them were and fanned them away with my book. "MUD." I hissed. "EVERYWHERE."

"Oh, lighten up, Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned as he dropped into the bench oppositeus.

Sasuke smirked as he leant over it, swiping two fingers across each of my cheeks. I felt an icky, cold, and solid substance settle itself on my face. "Now you can feel a part of the family." He told me.

I twitched, still in the process of comprehending how he had even managed to get that mud on his fingers or clothes. He hadn't even bothered tackling anyone. "You're vile." I mumbled, checking my face in my phone screen and inwardly crying at the four dark streaks of muck drawn across my face.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked again, his dark eyes looking faintly entertained as he took in his _art_.

Naruto grinned widely, "We should probably get back and shower – change… whatever." He said to Sasuke.

The Uchiha nodded in agreement, pushing himself up off of the bench and turning.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata chimed a second after Naruto did the same.

He spun around, the metal studs on his boots grinding against the old wood of the bleacher panels, "Hina-chan?" He grinned brightly at her.

She _blushed_ at the name. She completely _flushed_ and _died _of cuteness. "I-I thought… you should know… Ino-chan and I are going to be at S-Sakura-chan's this evening so… when you want to pick me up… I'm going to b-be there."

"Gotcha." He smiled, leaning across the bench that separated them and giving her a very gentle, very un-Naruto-like kiss on the cheek.

AW. AW. AW. They were. So. Goddamn. Cute.

I still hated Sasuke for stealing my matchmaking plan, though.

"See ya later, Hina-chan, Sakura-chan~" The blonde sang as he jogged after Sasuke and the two of them made for the school building.

I turned to Hinata, her face was almost purple.

"HINATA, BREATHE!" I cried, leaping to grab her shoulders and fan her face.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

The youngest Uchiha was sitting uncomfortably in the family living room. The reason that he was uncomfortable was because of the man sitting beside him, stoic expression in check, and the older brother standing with his arms folded and a rather bored look on his face whilst the mother basically danced around with excitement, a piece of paper held tightly in her hand.

"I just _love_ your brother's Christmas and New Year's parties, Fugaku!" She exclaimed.

The man beside Sasuke grunted, a smirk sliding across his dark face, "If only he wasn't such a—"

Mikoto cut him off with a blunt glare cold enough to silence even the boldest of men.

It was fairly common knowledge that none of the Uchihas got along. Outwardly, the family was a huge one which shared an excellent community vibe throughout Konoha and, in fact, all of the surrounding cities, but in reality the bonds between each household was incredibly weak. Especially in Sasuke's family's case.

His father and his uncle had this ongoing hatred for each other. Neither Sasuke nor Itachi knew what from but they suspected it might have had something to do with Mikoto. Never the less, Madara was fond of his nephews and sister in law and always made sure to invite the family to his winter parties held within the grounds of the tycoon's estate.

There was nothing Sasuke loathed more than the company of the uptightest of the uptight, and yet he was always forced to go.

Lucky for him, Madara allowed the boys to bring their friends whenever they came to try and cure their boredom for the time period they spent. Sasuke dragged Naruto and Kiba with him every year. Itachi usually brought Kisame and Deidara along. So it wasn't always that bad.

But the arrival of the invitation had put a short hold on Sasuke's plans to get out of the house as soon as possible before his mother started with her lectures of being safe and whatnot.

(God, mom…)

"Is that it, mother?" Itachi quizzed, a thin eyebrow raised behind his bangs.

Mikoto looked crestfallen, "Do... do you… none of you actually want to go to this, do you?"

"No." The collective grumble of the three males sounded.

The dark haired woman's expression turned sly, her lip curving upward in a dangerous smirk as she placed a hand on her hip. Sasuke thought she might be deciding to leave the boys at home for the duration of the Christmas holidays – her love for the parties that Madara threw would not hold her back – but a moment later she just stuck her nose in the air and said lightly, "Tough, you're coming. How often do you see your loving uncle and precious cousins?"

Sasuke twitched.

Mikoto caught this and laughed airily, a hand flailing in front of her face, "Oh-oh, right… well…" She straightened up, "we're going anyway."

There was a definite, general collective feeling of 'fml' between the Uchiha males as the woman smiled sweetly at them.

"If that's all," Itachi said, pushing himself from the wall and marching over to the Sasuke to grab the younger brother's wrist to help him escape before he was locked into the room by the awkward silence that Fugaku seemed to carry with him everywhere he went, "Sasuke and I have things to do."

The two boys practically booked the short distance to the door before the eldest of the Uchiha males spoke, halting them both, "Sasuke," his deep voice rumbled.

He almost cringed at the tone and turned on his heel, "Hn?" He grunted. His onyx eyes, the ones he'd inherited more from his mother than his father clashed with the older man's.

"I apologize for not being able to make it to your game. It went well?"

Sasuke was amazed the man had even remembered. He turned fully as he replied, "We won."

"As… expected." Fugaku nodded.

"Sasuke, are you going out?" Mikoto asked from the kitchen. Sasuke turned and walked back through the glass doors to answer her.

"Yeah, I'll be back around eleven… maybe twelve." He muttered, "Probably earlier than later."

"Do you want anything before you go?"

"No, thanks." The younger Uchiha mumbled. He never knew how to behave when he knew that his father was in the house. It wasn't like he was scared of the man or anything, it was just that Fugaku being home and not in a horrifically violent mood was the equivalent of seeing a blue moon. And the fact that Fugaku's moods could swing so easily… that too was something that Sasuke was cautious of.

The sound of Kiba's car horn beeping outside in the street caused Sasuke to get a move on, grabbing one of his nicest, supple, retro leather jackets and slipping it on over the loose, plaid red and black chemise which he'd left unbuttoned at the collar. He'd also rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, expecting an annoying amount of heat and sweat when he got into the apartment. He was also wearing a brand new pair of black skinny jeans which gave a whole new meaning to tight just shy of his hips, some stupidly named brand of underwear sticking out on a thick band underneath the bottom of his shirt. He slipped into his black Vans, slightly scuffed but mostly unharmed, and shouted a 'bye' to whoever was listening before slipping out of the car and into the Twilight.

He could hear music in the car already: a fitting punk version of "Blame It" roaring from the innards of the silver Audi, Naruto and Kiba both shouting along to the lyrics.

For goodness' sake. Did they have no clue? Anyone would have thought they were already drunk.

Actually… he didn't want to think about that.

He slipped into the back seat, a small glare directed at Naruto who had stolen his usual passenger side but smirking to himself a moment later as the music took over, feeding the party vibe that was building inside of him.

He may have felt like he was going to choke on his own throat from this hideous cold, but at least he'd be able to die in a somewhat good mood.

'_Blame it on the Goose,  
Got'cha feelin' loose,  
Blame it on the Tron'  
Got'cha in the zone,  
Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.'_

"Wait a sec," He paused as Kiba screeched down the street, "wait, wait, wait."

Naruto turned in the passenger seat and gave him a delightful wave.

If he had one, Sasuke would have whipped out a shank and stabbed him in the throat right there. "Mother_fucker_," He spat.

The blonde giggled mischievously, "Sasuke, I thought you liked riding with the girls, though?"

"I am going to poison you."

"Worth it~"

"Ah, don't be a killjoy, Sasuke. You're the smallest, so it's easier to fit all of the girls in with you in the back."

"I don't care. Naruto, get in the trunk."

The blonde gave him another annoyingly bright grin over his shoulder but didn't respond. The song had changed, and he belted out the lyrics almost smugly, "LIFE'S A GAME BUT IT'S NOT FAIR."

"Well." Sasuke grumbled, affronted, "Whatever. Hey, you'd better change the genre or something before all of the girls get in. Ino doesn't like this screaming shit and Hinata would probably faint if she knew it existed."

"There has to be something less heavy on this thing…" Kiba responded, one hand clicking through the songs – Naruto snatched the mechanism before the brunette caused a wreck – Kiba continued, "Besides, this is _your_ iPod. If you want to change the genre, change the iPod. _Everything_ on it is screaming shit."

"Hn," Sasuke shrugged. "We're here, better find something quick, Dobe."

"GOT ONE."

Sasuke killed himself inside. The Ready Set's voice 'oh'd through the small space of the car, his cover of Roll Up. At least the girls would like it.

The door beside him was yanked open and the light clicked on in the ceiling. Kiba turned, as did Naruto as, first Hinata, and then Ino, and then Sakura tumbled into the vehicle. Sakura slammed the door and cooed her love for this song.

Hn, figures.

Hinata shifted beside him, "Sorry," She mumbled apologetically. Sasuke just shook his head, wordlessly telling her not to worry.

Well, this was sufficiently awkward. Ino and Sakura thankfully covered the escape of his awkward vibes (which were actually remarkably fast spreading, considering the fact that he was, well, Sasuke, and – just. Fuck.

"To Karins!" The blonde girl's voice cheered, tapping on the back of Kiba's seat and excitedly chattering about fuck knows what to Hinata and Sakura under the tuneful ring of the song.

He just decided to pretend he couldn't hear them or anything as the car swerved and spun through the darker streets of the less-classy end of Konoha's living space.

The apartment blocks began to appear under the faint amber glow of the streetlights and pastel glow from the windows of the surrounding buildings.

They arrived, Kiba swerving straight into a parking space before another guy could take it. The six of them climbed out. Sasuke straightened his shirt and peered over the top of the car, totally not interested in what the girls were wearing. Unfortunately, he couldn't really tell from where he was since they were all wearing annoyingly puffy jackets with huge furry hoods to shield themselves from the cold.

Ino had her eyes on her phone and hung by her girls for a moment, linking arms with both of them, "You guys go party for a bit, we're gonna go drop our jackets off. See you downstairs!" She sang before skipping up the set of concrete steps that Kiba had parked right next to. He didn't even get a glimpse of her because Naruto was nudging him in the shoulder with a can of beer and he had to glance over and take it.

Goddammit Uzumaki.

"Okay," Kiba said suddenly, "Uchiha, no sex in my car."

"Whatever." Sasuke said dully, cracking his can open and bringing it to his lips, a thumb from his free hand slipping into one of his pockets.

"Uzumaki, no…" He paused to think, "no lightweightedness in my car." Sasuke snorted.

"That was one time! Okay… two—" Sasuke and Kiba both barked a laugh, "…I can't help it!" The blonde whinged.

"Also, don't bang my cousin." Sasuke told him, tipping two fingers off the side of his temple, eyes serious but tone almost joking.

Almost.

Naruto gulped.

"Let's go in, it's fuckin' cold, yo." Kiba exhaled a misty breath to prove his point.

The boys agreed, their feet hitting the steps as they ascended into the thick of the teens making their way up to Karin's floor.

A couple of trashy girls were sitting on the edge of the balcony, cigarettes in their hands and tipsy slurs sliding from their lips – girls were just _embarrassing _when they got drunk this early – as the boys passed them. Sasuke halfway felt the urge to pull them away from the edge, and, although he didn't have it in him to deal with them himself, he muttered to some passing males already lighting up to watch them.

Of course they agreed because he was Sasuke and Sasuke was the _man._

He continued into the building, the first level already filled with the usual high number of teenagers, alcohol, drugs and music, a heavy dubstep track just about to hit its drop – and it did so the moment the boys stepped into the room.

A few people recognized the boys and slipped to their sides, the pulse of the party quickly swallowing them.

* * *

**Notes: **AND SO IT BEGINS. I'm so excited for writing Karin's party. I love writing drunken Sasuke. Everything's hilarious and stupid. Ugh omfg. I hope you guys are too! And I know you're excited to find out what Sakura's going to be wearing. It was impossible to think of something, but I assumed Sasuke might find Taylor Momsen attractive and went with this SEXY thing she wore one time. God. I love Taylor. Anyway! Thank you for reading and please review~~


	13. Smells Like Teen Spirit

**Notes:** I've tried to put a lot of imagery into this chapter to work with the drunkness and the brilliance of the song for it. In case you don't already know it – in which case my finger of judgement has landed on you – it's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana. **  
Disclaimer:** Sasuke is _mineminemineminemine_. I kid.

* * *

**THIRTEEN  
- Smells Like Teen Spirit -  
**

**Sakura; **

My friends were insane. We had only been here for twenty minutes or so, but it seemed that Ino had already managed to get lost in the crowd of people dancing and mingling on the wide expanse of floor that was Karin and her roomies' living room. Sofas and tables and other various pieces of furniture had been pushed to the sides of the room and I was amazed to find, as I made my way down the steps from my redheaded friend's bedroom that people were already on the tipsy side.

But, I suppose kids always get like this the minute they're put into the same room as a bottle of something. Idiots.

But that's what they were doing really, they were already spinning and tripping and slurring and being super weird.

I hoped one of these fools ended up in hospital to learn a lesson.

Gosh.

My big green eyes were scanning the area for Hinata – she _definitely _wouldn't be a drunken mess. She would either be hiding or have been pulled into the thicket of sweating adolescents in her pretty violet ribbed tube dress. Ino would be out there with her, I hoped, with her arm locked around the pixie girl's.

Speaking of outfits, her dress was bubblegum pink, just like my hair, and strapless – but that was it. It was so simple, yet on her, it transformed into this unbelievably sexy _part _of her. We all have that one friend that can look good in anything. Ino was that friend. She had, however, added a hoard of golden necklaces to her attire just to complete it because she was such a total accessory queen.

And me? Well… Ino had brought me one of her smaller dresses. Obviously, she was a lot taller than I was and had grown out of it, but she had kept this particular dress due to it being a personal favourite of hers. It was made out of something like tight, shimmering silk, I couldn't work out what, but it was comfortable, and ended just above mid-way down my thighs.

My brain had originally screamed _too short_, but there was no way of getting out of it because Ino had zipped me into it and locked an unreachable button into place at the back. Cry.

The smooth material was mostly the delicate baby pink colour of ballerina's silken shoes, except for a bold black band across the waistline and another thinner stripe at the top of my chest. It was growing on me, to say the least. It had this innocent look about it, but the indistinct strokes of the dusky velvet said otherwise.

Ino had pulled my bangs to one side as well when she had styled my hair; it wasn't much of a change but I was definitely considering keeping it. I looked a little less vicious, even in my suggestive strapless dress and ridiculous strappy heels.

I wondered how I looked to other people. Personally, I felt self-conscious. A lot of my friends had never seen me make any kind of effort to look hot before. I was constantly looking around and fiddling with my hair shamefully as I made my way through the rowdy teenagers.

Naruto's huge face appeared out of nowhere, grin brighter than the sun and hair like the rays bouncing off of it. I almost screamed, but somehow managed not to.

"Sakura-chan! You look _awesome!_"

Well… there was my answer.

I couldn't help the smile that slid onto my face as I thanked him, "Aw, Naruto!"

"I'm not kidding. You look—"

"Back off, Blondie!" Someone's obnoxious yet pleased _i-did-this-and-i-am-proud_ voice cut through the music and a pair of skinny arms slid tightly around the tops of my arms as a kind of cute smelling blue drink appearing beneath my chin. "Forehead's _all mine_." The voice laughed.

(And no, I don't plan on telling you how I decided that the drink was cute smelling. It just _was, _okay.)

"Hey, Ino… that's not fair… you're blonde too…" Naruto frowned

"Aha! You found the _women_." Kiba's voice chuckled from Naruto's side as his distinctively tattooed cheeks appeared out of nowhere. I frowned. Where was Hinata? She should have been with Ino or Naruto or... one of us.

"Hey… where's Hina-chan? Sakura-chan?"

"I was about to ask the same thing…" I murmured, "Pig?"

Ino cackled in my ear. It seemed she had a plan. "She's probably out there with some cute boy… you'd better go find her Naruto-_kun_." The blonde teased. Unfortunately, Naruto seemed to take this literally and his face fell in an almost hurt manner. He slipped past us and disappeared amongst the other teens, huge blue eyes definitely on patrol.

"That was a _cruel thing_, Ino." Kiba told the blonde behind me, his lip curled up into a smirk that told me that I was _definitely _being left out of something.

"It was _necessary,_ Kiba!" The blonde chuckled loudly, unlocking her arms from around me and handing me her cup of blue liquid with a wink before falling gracefully into the brunette's arms. I shook my head at the pair of them.

I mean, it's not like I was a killjoy or anything. Because I wasn't. I was delightful! I was _fun!_ …Who am I kidding? I was being a total pain in the ass. I couldn't keep being so serious at such a huge party. It would put everyone else down. And so I took one look at the blue alco-pop in my hand, neon pink straw in place, before taking a sip and deciding that it wouldn't hurt me to stick to the lighter stuff and try to open my social borders for once.

I turned away from the blonde and the brunette before they could start canoodling in my sight and followed Naruto's lead of disappearing amongst the youths, entangling my clueless self in their ambiances.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

The dark haired teen stood at the top of the stairs, watching the people from the landing over the wide bannister and judging every single one of them. The dull mixture of vodka and fuck-knows what else was starting to make his stomach warm and his jaw numb. He hadn't spoken to anyone for a while.

He was just standing there, wordlessly, with his arms folded against the dark red wood as he leant against it, glittering onyx eyes scrutinizing the vast effervescent sea of adolescents; the smell of sweat, bringing to mind testosterone and oestrogen, was becoming palpable.

'_Smells like teen spirit' _Sasuke thought for a fleeting moment, a lopsided smirk-grin falling across his face. How long until it was _over? _He wasn't having very much fun. He wasn't having nearly as much fun as he used to.

He had it in his _power _to have fun, but he didn't want to use that power, because something was reminding him that using that power could send him spinning into a horrible warp filled with plenty of dodgy, dangerous nights with girls he'd rather not touch. He didn't want that anymore.

But _why _though?

_Because he didn't want to be known as the Playboy._

Oh yeah, that.

The sound of something… clumsy… came to his ears as an irritated 'oof' signalled the arrival of another person – a girl. He hadn't even been paying attention to who was climbing the stairs. Goddamn you, Nirvana.

Less than a moment later, a boy's voice sounded too, "Are you alright?"

The girl's voice just laughed lightly, _annoyingly_, "Oh—yeah. I'm just _dandy_. Sai, help me get these goddamn shoes off!"

"Are they hurting you?" The monotonous boy's voice questioned.

Sasuke frowned. He used to question things carelessly like that a good six months ago; the question may have had good intent, but the voice was cold – no concern shown. No concern was needed for girls that were easy enough to follow him so quickly.

Behind his numbed senses, he knew that he knew that light, annoying laugh. He knew that it belonged to someone he was supposed to have been with for the entirety of the party but he'd managed to _lose _amongst the waves of teenagers.

And he also knew that even _more _annoyingly blunt tone which could easily have equalled his own in downright prickishness.

Why was Haruno Sakura with Sai?

His cousin.

_Madara's_ _kid._

Why?

She was supposed to be with _him_.

"No, they're just— it's hard to _walk_ in heels. Did you know that? It's really… really…" Idiot drunk girl.

"That's a shame," Blunt fuck. "Hurry up."

"O_kayyyy_, _god_." Irritated idiot drunk girl.

Sasuke turned, raising his eyebrows as the pair reached the top of the stairs. He almost did a double-take. No wonder Sai had decided to target Haruno Sakura. She looked… so unusually… good. From her dusky makeup and charcoaled eyes and milky skin to her perfectly proportioned, sleek and smooth legs; from the way her slim, curved body was detained in that tight little dress to the way her damned bubblegum pink hair was styled… she looked really quite… appealing.

To put it bluntly, she was definitely not a sight for sore eyes.

Not that she really ever was. It was just that Sakura had taken to refusing to go out as much as she used to. If his memory served, she used to show off all the time, competing with Ino in every way possible – including appearances, hair length – everything. She… she used to make this kind of an effort every day.

But she'd stopped trying a long time ago. Sasuke had caused it. With no reason to try and win his attention since he'd made it clear that he didn't want her, she'd stopped bothering with him entirely, she'd just concentrated on her studies.

And it had been _such _a long time since Sasuke had seen her look so _good _that he almost told her – almost. But he had to kick Sai's ass first. For trying to take advantage of her. What else would he be doing dragging her upstairs and speaking to her so formidably? Vaguely, Sasuke realized just how much he had changed since he'd gone out with Ino.

"Sai, just what do you think you're doing?"

"Sasuke."

"I hope you're not planning on messing around with my date tonight…"

"Your date?"

"Oh!" The pink haired girl piped up as she skipped happily to Sasuke's side. "Yeah! That's right. Sasuke and I aren't actually—"

Surreptitiously squeezing the back of the top of her arm, Sasuke slipped his own leather sleeve-covered limb around her small waist, almost possessively but fully for show, "Yes, _mine_. Thank you for bringing her to me safe and sound. You'd better get back to finding a real slut to bang, because this girl isn't in with your style." He lifted his other hand from where it rested on the banister he was still leaning against and waved his hand almost sarcastically.

The dark haired _clone _of Sasuke returned with a vicious sneer, "I'm amazed that she'd be in with yours, then, Sasuke. The infamous Playboy of Konoha High."

"Hn, at least I received a title for it." Sasuke smirked, "What were you again? Ah, yes. The _dead-last_ of the Uchiha clan? The _try-hard_? _Sasuke's apprentice?_" He scoffed, "Get out of my sight, Sai. And the next time you try and get cocky with me, speak without the alcohol. I'd like to see how well you handle your words when you aren't being backed up by a bottle of Jack."

The other dark haired boy shot Sasuke the filthiest of filthy glares, Sasuke returned it – kind of, he hoped. Everything was kind of blurry, actually.

"Tch, speak for yourself." (DAMN EVERYTHING) The younger cousin spat before turning and storming down the bare wooden steps, his footsteps leaving thunderous clunks in his wake.

Beside him, Sakura pulled herself out of his grip, "Sasuke, that was s_o mean._" She whined.

Sasuke's lip curled. "Good."

"What— why good? You might have _really hurt his feelings._"

"That's… good. That's fine." Sasuke all but slurred, his previous sharp tongued attack directed at his cousin had _obviously _worn his mouth out. Talking was stupid anyway.

"Are you drunk?" Sakura asked, child-like.

Sasuke snorted, "No. Are you?"

Sakura mimicked his earlier scoff, "No!"

They both stared very seriously at one another for a moment before a chuckle broke free from her tiny mouth and she held onto the painted burgundy wood while she giggled to herself. "Okay. Maybe a little bit but I… so are you."

"I'm allowed to be drunk. You're supposed to be the sensible one."

"I was being sensible!" The girl protested, her big green eyes locking with his and almost trying to prove her sentence for a moment before she looked away and rambled on, "But then Kiba and Ino started getting all close and were hugging each other and kissing each other and I felt like I was being a killjoy because I was judging everyone because they were all stupidly tipsy—"

"Were you—" Sasuke cut in, Sakura stopped talking to listen, her eyes meeting his, confused. Sasuke rephrased, "—Did you know who that guy was?"

"I thought he was you at first!" The pink haired girl tittered, "That's why I went up to him and started talking. But then I realized… he wasn't you. He said his name was Sai but— you and him, cousins? I can see now but – isn't that weird? I had no idea!"

"Hn," Sasuke found himself smirking again, amused at her confused, slurred speech. This was so unlike the Sakura he knew. She was so clearly unsure of herself. He was sure if she knew what was going on while she was sober, she might have slammed her head into a wall. She would have been completely embarrassed.

He should have taped it. It would have been a delightful surprise for her.

However, the smirk was wiped from his lips as she continued her tale, "—and did you know…" She told him, looking around suspiciously before whispering secretively to him, "…he kissed me too. Then he said we should go somewhere quieter."

Sasuke felt something… very unusual. It was familiar, though. He knew what it was. He wouldn't dare name it. He just assumed it was protectiveness because she was his friend and Sai was an ugly motherfucker with even uglier aspirations concerning girls. He felt something rise from inside him, but get pulled back down immediately by something that was probably 'logic' telling him to relax because this was no big deal.

He didn't let this show, however. He just gave her a very rare grin – which was the closest to a smile he'd given _anyone _with the exception of his mother in years. The grin involved the top row of his perfect teeth appearing for a brief moment and pulling his bottom lip over the lower row of teeth while he exhaled what might have been a laugh. "He wasn't better than me though, was he?" He teased.

Sakura raised her head, her long, mascara coated lashes fluttering over her bright wheels of green before she looked up at him and teased back, "Well," She smiled, eyes flickering away from him to the corner of the ceiling while she hummed before giving her verdict, "I can't say."

_Annoying girl._

Sasuke lowered his head until he was perfectly in line with her. She kind of stared at him, blinking and not breathing. "I think you can give me a better answer than that." He told her. He was aware of the way she cracked a tiny smile before he closed his eyes and tipped her chin up, his lips descending upon hers in the same graceful instance as they had the day before.

And this time, there were no thoughts of vengeance against the ex. There was no awkward feeling between them when they separated and stared – she shyly, he …he didn't know what – at each other.

Her cool palms brush against his cheeks and find their way into his hair – a moment later she had closed the gap between their lips again. She was so gentle, so unusually innocent and gentle with her kisses. He had always been rough and uncaring but, for some reason, he felt as though he had to return this for her the same way, the same slow, soft way that she was treating him. For now. For tonight. For however long this moment was going to last because he owed her.

His fingers linked themselves harmlessly together at the small of her back. He knew that hers were doing something similar around his neck and he had no idea what was happening or what he had done or what the outcome of all of this would be but he knew that something was happening and it was something he had not anticipated for tonight at all. And he couldn't— couldn't understand why he was just letting it happen with someone he'd tried to push out of his life.

He felt her getting braver, her kisses becoming harder and more frantic. He could taste the alcohol on her lips – something sweet and harmless. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes at her for being such a lightweight but was distracted by the way she had stepped closer and melded herself against his check-red-and-black shirt and leather jacket, her smaller body fitting easily against his broad form.

Almost tentatively, Sasuke found himself taking a more confident lead in their tangle of arms and clashing lips, his teeth catching her bottom lip on several occasions and tugging his head back teasingly, fuelling her need to be closer to him, tiny whining and moaning sounds passed her lips at these moments which almost always caused him to forget about his teasing and plunge himself back into their unfamiliar embrace.

His lips left hers for a moment while he tried to gather some clarity and silence the voice inside his head yelling at him from behind the smoke-screen of lust and confusion and alcohol-induced need.

He pressed his forehead against her bare shoulder, breathing for a second and feeling her shuddering breaths against his taller form. A moment later, the remnants of the smoke screen left him drawing a line against the side of her throat with the tip of his nose, lips faintly parted until he reached her cheek where he finally found something in him to pull back.

He looked down at the way his fingers were holding hers and gently let them go. His charcoal eyes locked with her sea-green ones, her snowy cheeks tinted with something like a blush.

Hn, he never thought he'd see the day where she would go red for him again, amusing.

"I think…" She trailed off, "…yeah, you're the better kisser."

Oh. He'd forgotten about that.

Sasuke smirked, glanced over the banister and turned back to her, "We should go join the rest," He muttered, not really sure why he was suggesting it since in all honesty he would rather have stayed put and glared at them all night.

Sakura nodded, turning and making her way to the top of the wide set of steps, her shoes dangling by their black straps from her left hand's fingertips. As Sasuke caught up to her… he might have slipped her fingers smoothly between his.

This was just for tonight, he tried to convince himself, and this was just because Sai had tried to fuck with her.

That was all.

…Secretly, it might also have been down to the fact that she looked kind of… really nice. And that she'd done a lot for him recently. Even if she wasn't aware of it.

Just for tonight.

It didn't take long for them to find the others; it seemed they'd all collapsed in a heap onto one of the sofas. Their laughter was slow and tired. They must have been in the thick of the teenaged mass. Sakura threw herself into the corner of the sofa sighing loudly while she exclaimed something unintelligible about how glad she was that she had come.

Smirk smirk smirk.

Sasuke glimpsed at the Dobe and his younger cousin (god, why did he have such a huge family?) sitting beside each other but barely touching, furtively casting each other shy glances. _Well, well, what had happened here?_

He hadn't intended to give Ino and Kiba a look, but he did anyway. His dark eyes locked for a second with Ino's baby blue ones. They didn't say anything for a moment before a smile broke across her face, bright but peaceful. She hopped off of the dog-boy's lap, wobbling slightly and trying to discover where exactly gravity placed itself in her heels before leaping onto him with levity and giving him a slightly awkward hug – one which he returned with as much comfort as Voldemort did Malfoy in that last Harry Potter movie– murmuring something into his ear, "Let's just… be friends…" before letting go and falling back into Kiba's side.

He wasn't expecting that.

He didn't look at her. Instead, he just dropped wordlessly into the space beside Sakura.

"Hey, you guys," Naruto drawled from the other side of the sofa, "I think this party's had its best."

They all agreed. Ino was next to speak, "So, do you think we should get home?"

Someone whipped their phone out of their pocket. Sasuke did the same. It was ten to eleven, meaning the party would be shut down soon anyway. He gave a loud sigh, annoyed that he had only just sat down and was now having to get to his feet. Oh, the sheer _effort_ of everything…

* * *

...When Sasuke awoke the next morning, he halfway rolled out of bed and stumbled his way to the bathroom. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, pleased that no sense of nausea was overcoming him. Ugh, he just wanted some _food._

He made his way downstairs, past his father's open study quietly and stepped quietly into the kitchen. The scent of recent cooking hit his senses and he found himself on an almost tribal hunt for stomach-satisfying goodness.

_Goddammit mother. When you cook, feed me too._

He stared at the shelves inside of the fridge, tapping his foot casually as he decided what to dive into first. Duh, _tomatoes_. And mushrooms. And eggs. An omelette? Yes. He reached for the milk, only to catch sight of one of his mother's lighter drinks, probably from the night before to help her relax after a busy week of… housewifing and mom stuff, sitting on the bottom ledge beside it. But he recognized it right away. It was the same light blue thing that the girls all…

_Haruno._

"…Fuck."

* * *

**Sakura;**

I stared blankly at the glass of water in one hand and the pair of painkillers in the other. I was going to murder Sasuke for manhandling me to that party. I probably _completely _embarrassed myself, getting a hangover after a myriad of _alcopops_. Fuck Sasuke. Seriously. I did not like _him_ or _Karin _or _Ino _right now. Hiss.

* * *

**Notes: **I'm actually peeved at how long it took me to complete this update since it was already half done when I posted the last chapter. The only thing that remained was the part after the party that I was legitimately too lazy to write. Ugh, I'm so sorry you guys. Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I'll ~~~try~~~ to update asap. Because I've left you on maybe sorta kinda not really but a little bit of a cliffy, right? Meow. Thanks for waiting, reading, your reviews, and I hope you'll review again! c:


	14. Wishing Well

**Notes:** Explanations for my wild disappearances: I've moved; a heap of ideas for new fics came into my head and I decided to start writing them immediately – this _will _be completed. I just hopehopehope you guys can be a little patient with me if updates are slow. ;c This chapter's Blink-182's "Wishing Well" because I'm addicted to it/I think it fits a phrase in here. If you spot it, brownie points for you!**  
Disclaimer: **Naruto's not mine… bummer.

* * *

**FOURTEEN  
- Wishing Well -**

**Sasuke; **

_Nonononononono. _

_No._

_Not with Sakura. Not again._

"Sasuke, honey? Are you alright? You look a little disturbed." His mother asked, peering at him from behind the door and watching him as he viciously attacked the wooden chopping board and occasionally the odd vegetable had it dared to roll in his way.

Sasuke nodded wordlessly, purposely quirking his lip in a sarcastically pleasant way so that the woman would leave him alone.

He recalled last night's events quite well. Watching everybody dance, rescuing the pink-haired Haruno girl from the clutches of his almost certainly evil cousin, Sai, and then proceeding to flirt and make out with her. _Oh god, not her._

It wasn't like it was a bad thing or anything. Sasuke had grown almost fond of Sakura after she seemed to have dropped her vendetta against him. The last couple of weeks they'd been working together and dealing with identical drama had caused him to realize that maybe she wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Well, she was annoying as _shit_, but whatever. He knew what he meant in his head.

There was nothing wrong personally to him that he and Sakura had gotten close last night – the problem was that if she knew or remembered what had happened, she'd probably feel like he was trying to play her or something.

…_She knows you don't want to play around anymore, Sasuke. Stop pretending she's as ignorant as the rest._

* * *

**Sakura;**

As I was lying in bed with the back of my hand pressed to my forehead and a series of post-party-depression sighs passed my lips, I felt my phone vibrate. I didn't even want to look at it. I cringed. It was going to _murder my eyeballs._

With my eyes clenched shut, I felt for the button to answer the call and held my BlackBerry to my ear. "You've reached the land of the dead, what can I do for you?"

"One, take an asprin." Sasuke's voice responded almost immediately. I froze, eyes snapping open. "Secondly, drink coffee. And lastly, slap yourself."

"But _why_?" I groaned loudly, rubbing my left eye with my free hand.

"For being such a lightweight." His voice responded slowly. I could almost hear the smirk. "You… don't tell me you can't remember last night at all?"

I resisted the urge to groan again. "Next time I see you, you can bash your face against my palm for that comment. I _told _you that I don't drink… or party very well."

Sasuke was quiet for a second. "Huh." The sound came with an amused tint to it, "You were fine… just that you got drunk off, what, a blueberry alcopop?"

"Shut. Up." I muttered, "Is there a reason for you phoning me at such a ridiculous, aka painful, time?"

I heard Sasuke chuckle, deep and dark, before it dissipated, "I was just checking on you." He replied. I felt my chest get tight as a smile broke out across my face. Sasuke continued, "And you seem fine, ignorant, so…" He trailed off. "Later."

"Wait—" I began, but the line went dead with a short beep before I had even finished the word, "ugh." I grimaced. _Ignorant_? What did he mean by that? I felt kind of insulted. In fact, my inner self was repeatedly slapping his silhouette.

But that was kind of cute… he'd been the one to ask me to the party, so it was nice that he even bothered to check up on me afterwards. Perhaps Sasuke wasn't as much of an asshole to girls as I thought he was. In fact, from my experience so far, he seemed pretty darn sweet.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

She didn't remember. Okay. Good.

But wait— now where did he go? Did he just pretend that nothing happened? Could he do that?

Sasuke stopped thinking. He inwardly scolded himself for sounding like such a school girl, worrying over some chick. She was _Sakura _after all, the little girl he'd turned down all those years ago. Why did it matter at all what she felt now?

Somewhere inside him, Sasuke felt himself receive a slap for that thought. Okay. Wrong idea. He'd just play it like nothing happened, and if she ever found out – they were _drunk_. So what? A kiss is hardly a big deal, anyway.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, plating the omelette he'd made and stabbing at it quite brutally with a fork. _Goddammit, this was irritating._

* * *

**Sakura;**

The weekend passed without any weirdness. I got all of my homework completed, I helped my mom with the gardening and even managed to go shopping with Ino and Hinata despite not having a whole lot of money to spend. I really needed a job.

On Monday morning, I found myself sitting in the kitchen and almost glaring at the sky. After nice weather all week, it was pouring once more. That was such a bummer. And this time, I was sure that Sasuke wasn't going to accompany me through the drizzle.

I was back in my baby-blue skinny jeans, wearing my light pink Converses – as usual – and a _sweet_ leather jacket that I'd gotten for Christmas a few years ago. It was honestly one of my favourite things ever, but for some reason, I rarely wore it. Maybe I was just feeling a little more confident in myself after the party. I'd gotten a lot of compliments for the little dress I'd worn – it's girlish, pink appearance with the bold black middle… maybe people liked a little edginess on me.

Sasuke's face flashed into my mind for a second and, without realizing it, I found myself smiling as I reached down to slide my books from a kitchen stool into my bag.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

He tapped his foot impatiently as he leant against the row of red lockers. How many times had he found himself waiting by her locker now? This was _dumb_. And why was he even doing it? For the life of him, Sasuke couldn't understand. He could just be with the guys now and watching them attempt to set Shino's jacket on fire, but _no._ His sub-conscious had decided to lead him here.

"Sasuke?" He heard her voice call a short distance away. When he looked up, he found Sakura's form walking slowly towards him. Her usual pastel converses and light blue skinnies were dotted with dark raindrops, and her black leather jacket shimmered slightly from the water that had fallen across it. She looked different.

_WHY DID HE CARE?_

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be, like, I don't know… controlling your arsonist friends?" She asked, smiling at him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "They're still at it?"

"Afraid so. Poor Shino. I feel kind of sorry for him, you know." Sakura sighed, waving the back of her hand to get him to shift out of her way. He pushed his back from the row of lockers and turned so that he was leaning against it with the side of his arm instead. "I _hate _this locker…" The pinkette huffed, twisting her key several times with a frustrated sigh. It clicked open a second later and a smile lit up her face, "Ha!"

Sasuke smirked while she extracted her math book and shoved the rest of her bag into the small cavern. "I honestly don't see why you don't just get another locker." He said. Sakura gave him a blank look as she slammed the thing shut and pocketed her key. Sasuke shrugged.

"So…" Sakura began, "how _was _the party?" She giggled.

Sasuke tilted his head and gave her a curious look. Could she _really _not remember anything? Could it have been that she was just too shy to bring it up? No, when Sakura got shy, she usually stuttered and blushed. Her shyness was equal to that of Hinata's. He pursed his lips for a moment before nodding slowly, glancing to a poster that had suddenly become _very_ interesting on the wall behind her. "It was decent." He answered.

Sakura was quiet. When he glanced back at her, her bright eyes were narrowed. _Suspicion_.

"What?" He asked in response to her frown. "It _was_."

* * *

**Sakura;**

Why didn't he make eye contact when he said that? Sasuke was an expert on poker-facing, but that was something I had never witnessed with him. He knew something I didn't know.

"Did something happen?" I questioned. I watched as a muscle in his jaw flexed suddenly, but his eyes stayed void of an explanation as to why. I gasped, "Oh, don't tell me you banged another random chick." I sighed.

Sasuke shook his head slowly, "Not exactly…" He responded. Was that uncertainty in his voice? I chewed on the inside of my bottom lip, gazing at him inquisitively while he stared back vacantly. His dark eyes were so intense. It was genuinely difficult to hold eye-contact with the Uchiha for more than a few seconds. I blinked and looked over his shoulder. The rain had gotten heavier and a few people were beginning to file into the corridor looking for shelter. Ugh, I hoped it'd go away before the end of the day.

"I've, um…" I tapped my book, "I'm gonna get to class." I smiled, turning on my heel and giving him a small nod before making my way up the hall. The last thing I wanted was to be crushed by the swathes of soaking wet teenagers as they headed for class. It was kind of a habit of mine to get there early.

What I wasn't expecting was for Sasuke's black Converse to fall in line with my pink ones a short moment later. And what I really wasn't expecting was for him to grab my wrist and tug me smoothly into one of the musty, History storage rooms. "What—?" I began, but I was cut off as Sasuke and I veered into it.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

It was dark when the door closed. Sasuke felt for the light switch and tapped it. It didn't turn on. He sighed, ignoring Sakura's loud protests to being dragged in without warning. She was gripping his arm tightly

"You can't just _manhandle_ me into a history cupboard – you could actually constitute this with _kidnapping_, you know. What the _hell_, Sasuke?"

He didn't really know why he'd brought her in here. Maybe he wanted to talk to her about the party – that _had_ been his initial plan over much thinking during the weekend. But now, he just _really _needed to shut her up.

"I have to get to homeroom otherwise everyone's going to _kill me_. Have you seen how small I am? Getting through the halls when everyone's in them is _really _difficult, Sasuke. You—" In one smooth, fluid movement, he slid his hands over her wrists and gently flung her against the door, holding her arms by her side and crashed his lips against hers. He kissed her slowly, softly releasing her wrists and placing his hands either side of her head.

For a fraction of a second, he smirked. She was so tiny.

* * *

**Sakura;**

I didn't even know what had just happened. Sasuke and I had traded places. And now… he was kissing me. And I was frozen in shock. But for some reason, as my senses began to become less numb, I decided that it was good. This was good. And so, after a short moment of consideration, I decided that homeroom didn't really matter right now.

He pulled back, keeping his face close to mine and breathing softly against my cheek. The light flickered for a moment, I felt its flashing brightness through my eyelids, but I didn't open them. I just whispered blindly, "Why did you…?" I trailed off, finally blinking my bright green eyes at his glittering onyx while the light bulb above us buzzed, desperately trying to turn itself on.

Sasuke stared at me, expression completely confused as he shook his head from side to side, "I don't know." He breathed.

Our bemused expressions changed as the light finally decided to keep a constant light to amused. I couldn't supress a giggle when Sasuke smirked, that giggle turning to full-blown laughter.

I just… this was so _dumb_. I had been _so_ crazy about him before. Fourteen-year-old me would have done anything to have him this close. She wished on every shooting star, every eleven-eleven, every wishbone and wishing well… and only now did it seem that they were working... "Sasuke…" I murmured, "What's going on?" I asked once my laughter had died down. He was still towering over me, his face inches from mine.

"You wouldn't shut up." He whispered, an adorable, lop-sided grin making its way across his face. I frowned.

* * *

**Sasuke;**

He felt her disappointment as her face fell and was compelled to rectify the discontent in her eyes, "Sakura." He murmured, "This is… what happened on Friday night." She glanced up, "Well, not _this,_" He glimpsed around at the dusty shelves and badly flickering light before bringing his eye contact back, "but we— my cousin was with you, so I got him away from you. Then this happened."

And without another thought, he stooped down and kissed her again, hard, the palm of his hand curling uncharacteristically softly against her cheek. He heard her gasp, but a moment later, he felt her return the caress between their lips.

He wasn't sure for how long this went on – why it happened – why he did it… in fact, Sasuke wasn't sure of anything at this moment except that it didn't feel like it did with any of the other girls he'd been with, ever. Not even with Ino. Something inside of him, between his heart and his stomach, was being awoken. An overwhelming sense of… _bliss_… was filling him every time he touched her.

She was on her tiptoes, arms wrapped tightly around his neck and shielding their faces from the glare of the light, cloaking them in both her scent – like raspberries, or something else sweet – and the kind of warmth that you felt when you woke up on a winter's day wrapped up in blankets and almost too dozy to move.

But then Sasuke's keen ears picked up another sound. Laughter and a joking comment between a teacher – right outside the door. He pulled away from Sakura, taking both of her arms and shoving her into the centre of the small room while he reached up and fiddled with a row of books on one of the shelves. He was just in time too. The door opened and one of their English teachers stuck his head inside.

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder giving a curt nod as Jiraiya and his spiky mess of long white hair ambled inside. "Ah," The teacher smiled, "what are you two doing in here?"

"Sakura's got a history project." Sasuke muttered, eyes trailing over the names of the books, "On the modern history of Konoha."

"Is that right?" Their sensei smirked, as the Uchiha pulled the book slowly from its placement and placed it in Sakura's hands gently. She was _scarlet_. The dark haired boy was forced to supress a smirk as he turned back to Jiraiya.

"Yes." He nodded, "Actually, it's more like a _personal _project." He added. His subconscious was cracking up. Sakura gave a quiet giggle as she turned, apparently having composed herself.

"You two should be in your homerooms." Jiraiya commented, a thick eyebrow raised.

It seemed that Sakura's drama classes had paid off. She sighed heavily, "Sensei, don't you know how _difficult _it is to find _one _reference book in this store room? It's almost impossible and so it took us a while." She rolled her eyes, "Not to mention how long it took the light to turn on. The school should really invest in a couple more lightbulbs."

Sasuke and Jiraiya exchanged somewhat amused looks, eyebrows raised, lips pressed together, before returning their attention to the ranting pinkette. The Uchiha found it amazing that she was speaking to a teacher like this. Wasn't she infamous for being a dork?

"And instead of having students write lines for detention, I think you should take it up with the school board to have pupils sort and arrange areas like _this _in the school. You know, the Geography store room is the exact same." She glanced to Sasuke, and then looked away, blinking as if to get his image out of her mind.

He made for the door, passing Jiraiya's larger form easily, "Later, sensei." He muttered, waiting for Sakura to get behind him before slipping out into the corridor. A short way's down the hall, Sakura smacked him in the arm with the book. Sasuke chuckled.

* * *

**Sakura;**

I sat in my math class later on that morning with my head in my hands as I stared at the problem in front of me. My thumb was running unconsciously over my bottom lip. It felt weirdly smooth, silky, as it did when Sasuke and I had last kissed when we were at his house.

Why did this keep happening? Sasuke had totally rejected me when we were younger, now it was like he wouldn't leave me alone. I didn't get it. Not that I wanted to get it, exactly. I was quite content with him kissing me whenever he pleased – he was so ridiculously gorgeous and, well, _good_ at it. It wasn't exactly a problem to me. The only thing that _did _bug me was the question as to _why_.

I just couldn't… I didn't know what it _meant_. And it was so distracting. Seriously. I was having to calculate and re-calculate incredibly difficult sums whilst dealing with the curious motives of that pesky Uchiha and trying to keep my equilibrium. So _this _was why Ino failed so hard in class over the past few months.

Damn Sasuke. If he was going to mess up my grades, I'd do more than slap him with a book…

* * *

I stood under one of the recently erected rain shelters during lunch time. Ino and the girls had decided they wanted to go outside for some reason. So I was naturally forced to follow in their wake and watch from the sidelines and sucking on a straw in a juicebox as they plotted a new cheer routine on a rough piece of paper atop the weathered picnic bench.

My mind was still elsewhere. Out on the field, I could spot a few annoying youngsters playing soccer. Who the _hell_ wanted to play soccer while it was raining like a motherfucker? Freshmen. Duh. Although I couldn't say much, having been one of them only last year. They'd be traipsing their mud and dirt up and down the school all week. Grim.

But then I thought of our team and their game of soccer last week. There'd be another match this Friday too – oh _crap_. I hope that didn't mean another party as well. I don't think I could have handled embarrassment two times in a month.

_Wait. Wait wait wait._

_Whoa._

The party last week. Sasuke's sudden _assault on my mouth_ earlier today. What had he said? The same thing had happened at the party. No way! _Sasuke kissed me?_ I wracked my brains for even the slightest memory of it.

A dark space, stairs, a blister on the back of my foot from my shoes. A boy who looked like Sasuke, _so much_ like Sasuke, and then Sasuke himself and a bottle of vodka. His smouldering black eyes behind those darker-than-midnight bangs of his – oh yes, I remembered. I remembered now!

Just proves to show that if you think hard enough, the answers will come to you. Even through an alcohol-enthused bout of amnesia.

I felt my cheeks flush and my mouth quirk into an uncontrollable smile. _Shit_, so we _did _do something. I hoped kissing was the only thing we did. I'm pretty sure it was since I woke up in my own bed/with my dress totally in place.

I whipped out my phone and bbm'd the Uchiha, trying not to catch Ino's eye when she looked up and caught me smiling.

**Sakura: **_Ohhhh, now I know what you meant._

**Sasuke: **_Hn?_

**Sakura: **_You can't be a caveman over bbm, Sasuke. It's "what?"_

**Sasuke: **_…Hn._

**Sakura:**_ I remember what happened at the party now._

**Sasuke: **_Good. _

**Sasuke: **_Where are you?_

**Sakura: **_Outside… in the rain. The girls are laying out some new cheers._

**Sasuke: **_Haah._

I guessed he wasn't going to come and keep me company. _Boo, you whore._ I wondered what would happen now. What _could _happen now? The winter holidays were coming up… Christmas. There was only three weeks or so before school shut for the season and the high chance was that I wouldn't see Sasuke at Christmas at all.

One, I was pretty anti-social during the winter. And two, he, Kiba and Naruto usually went to visit some rich relative of his for a week of the break. Who knew what'd happen, really… and the main question was… did we even _want _anything to happen?

* * *

**Notes: **Shortish chapter, but I wanted Sasuke and Sakura's party shenanigans to come out between them solidly. Also, I have an obsession with the "shut-up kiss", omg. I think in almost every fanfic I've read, it's been Sasuke's signature move, hahaha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Your reviews were AMAZING. Thank you for the feedback! And please review again here. :3


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